Drown Your Sorrows
by Haunting Your Kids
Summary: Paulina would do anything to be with her beloved ghost boy. Even become Dr. Niles Van Roekel's latest experiment. Crossed over with Marvel because this was the closest universe I could get.
1. Buzzed

This story is supposed to be set before Rise of the Imperfects. It's mostly because the end of the game would make this fiction intensely complicated and less fun, if not impossible. By the way, in case you didn't see it in my last peice of work, this story is not in canon with Technical Difficulties. Anyway, onto the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imerfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics. I do own one character.

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Drown Your Sorrows

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Chapter 1: Buzzed

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_Evolution is such a tedious process. What's the harm in pushing it a step further? Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners? My name is Doctor Niles Van Roekel. For many of your Earth years, I have been conducting numerous experiments on those of your planet to create the ultimate weapon. Project Paragon is nearing completion, but those that came after her have proven great worth to me. Johnny Ohm has shown no mercy in field training, and Solara has mastered her abilities to the point of flawlessness. But if I had to select a favorite of my creations, I would have to select the one that got away: Downpour. Her elegance combined with her rage made her a force most dangerous. It's quite interesting how she came into my life. And how she left it.

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_

In the town of Amity Park, education is an important value. That's why the fourteen- to eighteen-year-old citizens of the town go to Casper High School, where the school experience is... well, not as different as the school expriences everywhere else, save the now-and-again ghost invasions. That's just one thing that gets the school's attention. The other is much more pleasent.

Of the two-hundred seventy-nine female students in attendance, one stood out as the official drop dead beauty. One so beautiful and popular, she can only be mentioned by her first name and everyone would still know who was being spoken of (it's rumored she may not even have a last name). She was Paulina, a fifteen year-old latina cheerleader who enjoys every minute of attention she recieves. She often flirts with all the boys just so they can gawk her way. Many call the act mean and low, but in her mind, the opinion of the ordinary doesn't matter.

It was during lunch where this story begins, as Paulina was walking to the popular table with her salad lunch recieving cat calls along the way. She then decides to give a flirt toward one particular student that was just too much fun to turture: Danny Fenton. From the moment his pants dropped in front of her, Paulina knew every flirt that she brought on would be sweeter than candy, especially in front of Danny's goth friend, Samantha Manson, or simply Sam. Paulina loves seeing the green on Sam's face just as much as the red on Danny's. As always, Danny and Sam were sitting at the same with their other friend, Tucker Foley.

While passing Danny's table, she gave a seductive, "Hi, Danny," in his direction.

"Hey," Danny casually said.

Paulina suddenly stopped in place, very confused at what just happened. She darted back to the table and bombarded Danny with questions. "That's it?! Just 'hey'?! No cheesy pick-up line?! No braindead babble that I'm even speaking to you?! JUST 'HEY'?!"

"Yeah, well you see, Paulina," Danny explained, "when when a boy has interest in a girl, and the girl shows no real interest in them, and the boy gets a little fed up, they move on."

Paulina's eye started to twitch when she began to ask what she never thought she'd ask. "Are you saying... you're over me?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Danny closed.

This gave Sam the urge to rub what just happened in Paulina's face. "YEEEEEEAH!!!" she shouted in a celebratory taunt, pointing at Paulina. "In you FACE! You're a Nasty Burger with fries, 'cause you just got SERVED!!!" Sam started breathing heavily over the immense shouting, her eyes set to a mental glare.

"You have no idea how long she's been waiting to do that," Tucker said. He then added, "So, Paulina, if you're done flirting with Danny..."

"Don't even breathe in my way, techno geek," Paulina dismissed, continuing to the popular kid's table.

"Figures," Tucker said to himself. Putting his focus back on his friends, "So, Danny, are you really done with Paulina, or are you just doing that to annoy her?"

"I just said it, Tuck," Danny said, "a person can only be used so many times before he's just done. Besides, being used so many times gave me sort of a sixth sence on girls who like me or not."

Tucker snorted at the comment. "What?" Danny wanted to know, unaware of how red Sam was.

"Man, you are so clueless," Tucker said.

Meanwhile, at the popular kids' table, Paulina was sitting with her so-called friends. They included Dash Baxter, Captain of the school football and basketball teams, Kwan, Dash's football teammate, and Star, Kwan's girlfriend. Paulina was never friends with them, nor did she have any plans to ge to know them better. She only hung out with them because she was in the same higher-class level as they were, save Star, who originally hung out with Paulina to make herself look more important. At least Star got a boyfriend out of it.

Paulina still couldn't shake off how Danny, perhaps the biggest and most desperate loser she had ever met, just ignored her. Despite it only happened a minute ago, the girl was a total wreck. "How could he ignore me?" she started asking herself. "No one's ever looked away fom me. Am I not perfect?" The last question almost drew Paulina insane, making her grap Dash by his letterman jack and shaking him violently asking him, "Am I still perfect?! AM I?!"

The thing to pop into Dash's shaken and dazed mind, him being a jock and all, was, "Are you, like, asking me out or something?"

"Oh, forget it!" Paulina said, letting go of Dash. She then quietly said to heself, "Boys can be so stupid." Still unable to bear with the whole rejection thing, Paulina pulled a compact mirror out of her pocket, checking for blemishes or anything else that would turn away anyone shallow enough. Everything looked fine. Her hair was neatly in place, her face was clean, her eyes didn't show any bloodshot, a buzzsaw was coming up from behind her... buzzsaw? Paulina looked behind her to see just what she thought she saw, ducking out of the way of the buzzsaw just in time. The saw sawed right through the table, making it collapse to the floor. Paulina looked behind her to see where the projectile saw came from to see a ghost floating above.

"Hoo, boy," the ghost said, "I almost got you there, eh? Don't mind me, I'm just cuttin' down your world to rebuild it in my image. Won't be hurtin' anyone. At least not yet." The ghost appeared tall where he floated, doning a red flannel shirt with a matching ushanka on his head. The right arm of his shirt was sleeveless to display his mechanical arm. He also wore blue jeans and heavy-looking boots. The ghost's mechanical arm began to shift as it changed into a projectile launcher that, judging by the shape of the barrel, fired flat disc-like objects. He then added, "Oh yeah, forgot. BOOOOOOO, eh?" He started spinning around, launching buzzsaws every which way, which caused all the popular kids at the table to run screaming. This, in turn, made everyone else run for their lives.

All the students were running and screaming, save for three. Danny, Sam, and Tucker were used to this sort of thing for months now. "Keep me covered, guys," Danny said to his friends. "I'm goin' ghost!" Danny ducked under the table as Sam and Tucker kept guard around it.

A flash of light emerged from under the table, as Danny went through an amazing metamorphosis. Two bright rings appeared around his waist, moving vertically from eachother to reveal anny's super alter ego. His normal white shirt and blue jeans were changed into a black and white jumpsuit, with a unique emplem on the chest area. His jet black hair turned a stark shade of white. His normal blue eyes suddenly glowed green. Within seconds, he became Danny Phantom, ghostly protector of Amity Park against all those who wish to endanger it. He came up from under the table, phasing through it, and told his friends, "Meet me outside with a Fenton Thermos ready. I gotta get Paul Bunyan away from all these people." With that, Sam and Tucker retreated outside as Danny flew up to confront the ghost.

"This school isn't scheduled for renovation or destruction!" Danny shouted to the ghost from behind.

The ghost turned around to see his challenger. "Oh, you must be that Phantom kid I heard aboot," the ghost said. "You're no match for Lumber Joe!" His mood suddenly went from serious to jokingly, asking Danny, "Hey, ask me why they call me Lumber Joe."

"Huh?" Danny didn't quite get what the ghost was asking for.

"C'mon, it hilarious!" the ghost begged.

"Fine," Danny said, though very uninterested. "Why do they call you 'Lumber Joe'?"

"Because Lumber_jack_ was taken!" Joe answered, laughing up a storm at the joke. Danny was not impressed. Joe continued laughing while explaining the joke. "Don'cha get it? It's like 'Lumber...' and they mix and..." Joe suddenly became as bored as Danny and shifted his right arm to the form of an axe. "Let's just get to the part where I kick your butt, eh?"

"With pleasure!" Danny said, charging up a ghost ray.

"Yoo hoo! Ghost boy!" Danny was suddenly distracted by the cat call. He looked back to see Paulina was still in the cafateria. Danny knew quite well of Paulina's crush his ghostly counterpart, making it more ironic on how she naturally detests Danny Fenton.

"Paulina, get out of here!" Danny warned. The distraction provivded Lumber Joe with the opportunity to whack Danny with the broad end of his axe, which he took without hesitation. The blow threw Danny to the cafeteria floor, to which Paulina ran to his aid.

"Are you okay?" Paulina asked her hero, helping him up.

"I'm... Look out!" Danny grabbed Lumber Joe's axe before it could make contact with it's intended target, whoever it was. Now with a hold on the ghostly woodsman, Danny swung him around several times before finally releasing him. The ghost was sent flying towards a wall, which he phased through to avoid a painful impact. Danny took the time to tell Paulina, "I want you to stay here!" Danny ordered. Another interuption caught the teens attention as Lumber Joe slammed his axe into the school wall, sticking his head through it.

"Heeeeere's JOEY!" Joe called.

"Oh no you don't!" Danny said, flying toward Joe to keep him away from the school. He phased through the wall to tackle Joe further from the school.

"Ghost boy, wait!" Paulina called out. "I need to know if you think I'm perfect!" Unable to put the whole Fenton thing behind her, Paulina ran out to the school courtyard to get some kind of answer... and admire Danny Phantom some more.

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Phew, that's a lot of stuff to tell. But we're just gettin' started with this rather dark story. 


	2. New York, New Plan

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics.

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Drown Your Sorrows

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Chapter 2: New York, New Plan

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"Ah, New York City. After that terrible incident in Outer Space, I, Technus, ghost master of electronical gadgetry, have found the one place to make my fresh start! Using the technology that no one in this city can seem to go on without, I shall construct myself the ultimate machine! And with Danny Phantom miles away from here, no one will stop me! I will have all the time in the world to create my machine, and use it to destroy the ghost child! And once he's gone, I CAN FINALLY CON-"

"Go back to Jersey, ya tourist!" Technus was interupted by a disgruntled passerby. Apparently, a black-coated, white-caped, mullet wearing ghost can get that kind of attention when shouting their dastardly plans on a rooftop.

"I'll do what I want to, human!" Technus shouted back. "Now, where was I? Oh yes... I CAN FINALLY CONQUER THIS WORLD!" Technus proceeded to meniacal laughter before asking himself, "Now where to begin? Perhaps Grand Central Station."

Technus leaped from the building he was standing atop of, slowing his descent to land on the ground gently. As soon as he hit the ground, he felt an immense presence. He looked around to see there was no piece of technology that could make him feel what he felt. He had a thought when he looked at the concrete beneath him. "Could it this feeling is coming from below me?" he asked himself. "Perhaps the underground contains this... inhuman technology."

"That's what I've been tellin' everyone for _ages_, man!" Technus was once again interupted by another New Yorker, this one wearing a hat made out of aluminum foil. "There's _aliens_ beneath us, man! They're performing unspeakable experiments on our own kind, man! I shouldn't even be speaking to you like this, man. Pretend you're an animal so they won't know you're _human_, man!" The crazy person quickly got on all fours and ran off, meowing like a cat. Technus was baffled.

"I should've gone to Tokyo," Technus said as he phased into the ground.

* * *

Unaware to the people of New York City (and the rest of the world, come to think of it), a secret laboratory existed deep underground. The lab consisted of items unearthly, with technology far beyond that of present day Earth. It was perfect for anyone who planned on usin it to become overlord, and that one person just came into the lab from the cieling. 

"Very interesting," Technus said to himself, observing the various computers and generators and such. "This technology is so advanced. With all this machinery, I could RULE THIS WORLD... EVEN MORE SO!"

"What do you think you're doing?!" Technus turned around to see who he believed was the lab's owner. It was a bald man in a brown suit with grayish blue eyes. His arms were folded as he was not very pleased with seeing an intruder floating in his lab.

"How did you know I was here?" Technus questioned, baffled at how he was found out about so quickly.

"You haven't the slightest idea how sensitive our alarm system is," the man answered.

"Our?" Technus said, raising an eyebrow.

"Did you think I ran this place on my own?" The bald man snapped his fingers, and almost in an instant, two large robotic beings with cannon arms appeared. Their explosive arms were pointed at Technus, waiting for the right command. "FIRE!"

The robotic beings both fired at Technus, each releasing an orbs of some sort of energy. Technus easily evaded the shots, dodging the orbs just before they could hit him.

"Cybernetic soldiers?" Technus asked, as if he couldn't believe the man even thought this up. He thrust his arm foward with his palm facing up, seemed to be getting a hold of something, and quickly pulled his arm back in. The soldiers' cannon arms were quickly torn off by some force, and Technus had control of it. With the arms now in front of Technus, the ghost turned them around to aim them at the robots. The arms fired at the robots, decimating them into pieces. "It's as if you're not even trying!"

The bald man didn't show signs of fear or anything. He was rather impressed of what just happened. "You're not an ordinary person, are you?" he had to ask.

"Of course not!" Technus shouted. "I am Nicolai Technus! Ghost master of technology and all things battery-charged! And you appear to have no fear in me." Technus moved the cannon arms to the sides of the bald man, both barrels aimed at opposite ends of the man's head. He never cowered. "Why is that, Chrome Dome?"

The man simply replied, "I've _created_ greater threats than you." He walked foward as the cannons dropped at his sides.

Technus didn't know what to say. Surely, no one could actually create a greater threat than him, could they? "Explain yourself," he demanded, lowering to the floor.

"I suppose it's only proper," the bald man said. "My name is Doctor Niles Van Roekel. I've been experimenting to create the ultimate weapon. I assume you, too, are a scientist. I can only assume that I've said to much, then."

"A scientist indeed!" Technus exclaimed. "And near world dominator on four different occasions! How many times can you say you've nearly dominated the world?"

"I do not create to rule worlds," Van Roekel said. "I create to take them back." Technus didn't seem to know what the man was talking about. "Since you have the potential to be my better, I'd like to ask a favor of you."

"Sure," Technus said. Before Van Roekel could explain, Technus's mind suddenly sparked, promting him to go, "On one condition."

"What would that be?" Van Roekel asked. He didn't appear to be happy.

"You have to do something for me," Technus said. "It shouldn't be too hard for someone of your intellect. I scratch your back, you scratch mine."

"Should I refuse?" Van Roekel asked, slightly suspicious. The hum of the cannons Technus previously controled emitted from behind Van Roekel. He didn't need to turn around to see what Technus meant. Without an ounce of fear, the doctor said, "I suppose we have reached an agreement. Shall we shake on it?" Van Roekel extended his hand, looking to set the agreement in stone.

"Mr. Van Roekel," Technus said, grabbing and shaking the bald man's hand, "you've got yourself a partner!"

* * *

Oooh, what do the two of these guys have planned? Find out in the next chapter. Well, actually, the chapter after the next, and the one after that to find out Van Roekel and Technus's plans, respectively. I was originally going to expose Van Roekel's plan in this chapter, but I need it so more time seems to go by by chapter five. Well, review away. Hopefully, you'll like this chapter, since NO ONE seemed to respond to the first. 


	3. Betrayal Kinda

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics. I do own one character, but this is the last you'll see of him.

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Drown Your Sorrows

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Chapter 3: Betrayal... Kinda...

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In the courtyard of Casper High School, an apparitional brawl was happening. Danny Phantom and Lumber Joe were locked in the air, trying to gain ground, er... sky from the other. Danny threw Joe down from the struggle, but Joe fired a buzzsaw at Danny right after. Danny narrowly dodged the blade, along with a barrage of several more. 

"Whoa," Joe said, "you're pretty good at this."

"I take that as a white flag?" Danny asked.

"Heck no, eh?!" the ghostly woodsman shouted. "I haven't even showed you my best move yet!" Joe turned around and fired some buzzsaws into a nearby tree. The saws cut cleanly through the tree so swiftly, it just laid there stationarily on its stump. The tree began to grow arms and legs before Danny's eyes, with the leaves rearranging to form an evil face. It let out a roar to show it had been brought to life.

"You can control wood?" Danny asked in amazment.

"No, only the trees I cut down," Joe answered. "You see, if I could control wood, I'd have had the whole school on ya, eh? ...I mean the _actual_ school, not the students-"

"I get it!" Danny shouted, unable to take the constantly chattery ghost. "Will you just sic it on me already?"

"Oh, yeah, good idea," Joe said. He the commanded, "Go get 'im, eh?" With that, the living tree sprung into action.

At over nine feet in height, the tree didn't have to reach too far out to get a hold of Danny. While Danny was in the tree's grip, he unleashed his Phantom Phreeze ability, releasing a sub-zero energy throughout his entire body and covering the tree's hand in ice. With a burst of energy, Danny shattered the trees hand to little icy bits and flew away to give an exchange of witty banter.

"And that was _my_ best move," Danny shouted to Joe, who looked shocked. "Top _that_!" Danny then got back to fighting the living tree, firing ghost rays at it while avoiding its massive swats with its free hand.

By this point Sam and Tucker arrived at the scene, Tucker with a Fenton Thermos in hand. "Danny," Sam called, " we have the-" Sam suddenly stopped talking after noticing what Danny was fighting. As an eco-goth, Sam was naturally enfuriated. "What do you think you're doing to that poor tree?!"

"He started it!" Danny explained, but taking his focus off the battle. He was then swatted by the tree to the ground, landing face first into the ground. His friends quickly came to his aid. With his head practically forced into the ground, Danny mumbled, "Complain to the guy in flannel."

Sam looked for the ghostly woodsman, and after spotting him, she said, "Oh, his not only gonna get a piece of my mind. He's getting the whole thing!" Sam angrily stomped her way to Lumber Joe and shouted up to him, "HEY YOU!"

Joe looked down and had an idea about who his provoker was. "Oh, crud," Joe moaned, "not an environmentalest, eh?"

"You have _no_ right to just take these trees and make them do your own evil bidding," Sam shouted. "Trees give life, and you'd rather like to see them _end_ them?! Also, trees are people too! If you're cutting them down, that's murder! You're a ruthless murderer who enjoys using the reanimated bodies of your victims to kill other people! Do you think the trees even like what you're doing?! What about all the other trees?! What do you think _they_ think about you?!"

Sam didn't even begin to protest, and Joe wasn't about to put up with the whole thing. "Oh, for cryin' out loud, eh?" Joe said, rubbing his temple. He decided to do something about it and commanded, "Minion! Timber on the girl!"

Sam stopped talking when she heard the command. She knew well, of what it meant when a lumberjack called "TIMBER!", and turning around to see the living tree behind her only confirmed it. "Not good!" Sam said, now running for her life. The tree followed her in massive strides until it jumped into the air, targeted on Sam.

By this point, Danny had freed his head from the ground and saw what was taking place. "Oh, no," Danny worried, "SAM!" He then took of like a jet to save his friend from the tree's attack.

* * *

Meanwhile, just around the corner of the action, a young hispanic girl was searching for her beloved apparitional crush. "Ghost boy?" she called out. "Where are you?" Her rough day of being ignored by perhaps the school's biggest loser and being misunderstood the the schools most popular athelete could easily be eased by a moment with Amity Park's unofficial hero. A loud crash around the corner gave her evidence to where he must be. Paulina became extremely giddy as she ran over to the source of the crash. 

When she got there, she didn't see her beloved Danny Phantom, just a tree with arms and legs that had fallen over. There was something that came out of the tree that put a smile on Paulina's face, which quickly turned into displeasing shock. Danny Phantom came out, alright... with the goth geek in his arms! The sight made Paulina's right eye begin to twitch.

As if it wasn't enough, Danny was talking to the geek. While she couldn't hear anything in her bundled rage, she was able to read the ghost boy's lips, seeing, "Are you okay?" The goth nodded and Danny flew away to continue his fight.

Seeing this made Paulina furious. Rage built up inside her from seeing the ghost boy with another woman, and when it filled up to the brim with no more room left to fill, it exited her mouth in the form of a high-pitched scream. Unable to stay where she was any longer, she stomped back into school, still shrieking.

* * *

"Tucker!" Danny called out. "Thermos!" 

"Catch!" Tucker called back, throwing the thermos to him. Lumber Joe took sight of this and tried shooting the thermos down, however, his wasn't too hot with moving targets.

Danny caught the thermos, opened it, and activated it, releasing a bright beam at Lumber Joe. "Oh, CANADAAAAAA!!!" Joe cried out while being sucked into the thermos. Danny sealed the thermos and it was the last he'd see of Lumber Joe for a while.

"Way to go Danny!" Tucker said to his friend as he touched back to the ground. "That's another ghost for the Ghost Zone to take back."

"I think there might be one more," Sam came in. "I think I heard a banshee or something."


	4. Hydrogen Mus Musculus

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics.

Drown Your Sorrows

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Chapter 4: Hydrogen Mus Musculus

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Back in the New York underground, Van Roekel had brought Technus to another section of his lab to show him what he had wanted. He explained to Technus as they approached a desk, "This is my test lab. And this is my test." On the desk was a cage of scurrying mice. Beside the cage was a syringe filled with an unknown liquid.

"You lost me, Doc," Technus said, quite confused.

"I thought you'd say something like that," Van Roekel said, removing a mouse from its cage and picking up the syringe. The mouse squeaked and squermed as Van Roekel continued to explain. "These mice are my pre-experimentation specimen. And this syringe is filled with a substance that, when injected into a living organism, rearrange their chemical make up to allow them to be one part liquid and one part solid. But when I inject it..."

Van Roekel stuck the needle into the mouse's back. The mouse gave a painful squeak which became louder as the doctor pushed down on the plunger. After the needle was removed, Van Roekel put the mouse back onto the table to let it run around a bit. It didn't run around for long, as the mouse quickly melted into water. The sight of the small puddle that used to be a small rodent made Technus cringe slightly, but he maintained his composure once Van Roekel began speaking again.

"As you can see," Van Roekel explained, "the serum melts the subject into liquid before any further experimentation can be made." Technus snorted in amusement, as if finding something funny. "What do you find so amusing?"

"You," Technus said. Van Roekel's face went sour, knowing an insult when he hears it. "I mean, how can you consider this experiment without even the _thought_ of creating a stablizer of some sort?"

"If you hadn't interupted me," Van Roekel barked, not liking to have his intellegence mocked, "I was about to suggest such. I have concluded that a stablizer replacing one of the subject's vertebrae, it will be able to hold the body together an allow it control its solid and liquid state. It could be the ultimate hydro weapon! My only problem is whether to place the stablzer in before or after the injection." The indecisivness of the doctor made Technus explode with laughter.

"I see why you seek my knowledge now!" Technus bragged, much to Van Roekel's displeasurement. "_Of course_ you insert the stablizer after the injction! If you put in the stablizer _before_ the injection, the stablizer will liquify with the body! And you call yourself a doctor."

"Even if your beliefs are correct," Van Roekel argued, "testing so would prove impossible! That mouse liquified after only a few seconds! How do you suppose I perform such a complex operation so quickly?"

"It's all about mass, VAN NITWIT!" Technus slammed. "The serum liquified the mouse so quickly because of its diminuative size. It was able to run through its body much faster. A larger subject would last much longer."

Van Roekel gave a loud huff after being outsmarted again. Reluctantly, he asked, "How long would it take for the serum to run through a human subject?"

"Oh, I don't know," Technus playfully said. "I'd say, about..." He paused momentarily to do the calculations in his head, then answered, "Eight minutes, ten tops."

"Fine then," Van Roekel said, very frustrated, "that is _all_ I needed to know! If you'll excuse me." He stormed towards the exit of the test lab.

"Excuse me, Doctor," Technus called, "you still-"

"I KNOW!" Van Roekel shouted without looking back. "Call me when you need you're favor. I'm off to find my subject."

Technus was about to let the doctor continue his way, but after hearing about the search of a subject, a bright idea came to his mind. He zoomed in front of Van Roekel and gave his proclamation.

'Say, Doctor," Technus began.

"You've ridiculed me enough, thank you," Van Roekel said, still moving.

"It's not that," Technus said, "there's time for that later. What do you say to letting me find that subject you want? Think of it as a part two to our agreement."

Van Roekel stopped when he heard Technus's proclamation. He then asked him, "Do you know of any potential beings who can be able to handle the abilities to be bestowed upon them?"

"Oh, I can name one," Technus grinned.

* * *

I just really love the conflict between these two. Their clashing egos is just too awesome. Sorry if the title is too scientific. Also sorry that this is a relatively short chapter. Don't worry, the next one is where the story really kicks into gear. 


	5. The Wrong Girl

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics.

* * *

Drown Your Sorrows

* * *

Chapter 5: The Wrong Girl

* * *

After the final minutes of school ended, the students Casper High stormed out, free and eager to start their weekend. They also wanted to evacuate before another ghost attack. Tucker found

"Can you believe they actually let school continue?" Tucker asked after dismissal from science class. "That ghost made a mess out of the cafeteria!"

"That's Amity Park for ya," Sam said. "Not even an attack from the paranormal will halt a child's much-needed education."

"Besides," Danny added, "it's just the cafeteria. If it were the gym..."

"Nope, it'd still go on," Sam said.

"Okay, uh," Danny said, not expecting Sam to throw in what she said. "If it were the library..."

"Still go," Sam said again.

"Home-Ec room?"

"Nope."

"Science lab?"

"Nope."

"Lancer's office?"

"...eh, maybe."

* * *

Unknown to the three, one of Van Roekel's satalites was observing the school, namely the entrance. Upon Technus's request, Van Roekel set the satalite's camera to look at the school for who Technus believed was the best candidate for his experiment. Van Roekel was watching a large monitor, observing the young people leaving the school. Van Roekel was waiting for Technus's word, but was still weary on actually trusting it.

"Right there!" Technus pointed out. "The girl in black!"

Van Roekel snapped into action, locking the satalite's camera onto the girl Technus pointed out. He examined her and said, "I suppose she's passable. So, Technus, what can you tell me about her?"

"She's the best candidate for the experiment!" Technus proclaimed.

"...And?" Van Roekel asked, blankly staring at Technus.

"Well, uh..." Technus stumbled, "she's dark, gloomy, and, uh... kinda cute?"

Van Roekel looked fed up with Technus. At first, it seemed like Van Roekel was the dumber one, but now it appeared the tables have turned, and Van Roekel wanted to take full advantage of the situation. "You're telling me," Van Roekel began fuming, "that this girl is the best candidate for my latest experiment, but you don't know a single thing about her?!?"

"Well, 'genius'," Technus fired back, "who do you think would be a better candidate?"

Van Roekel began listing, "A tai chi martial artist, an Olympic-class swimmer, a lifeguard, I would even settle for a surfer!"

"Wow, those are good choices," Technus acknowledged. He put his attention back to Van Roekel and shouted, "Well listen, chumpstain, I don't care what this does for you, but doing this for me will get me off of your back a lot sooner!"

"Well, if that's what it takes!" Van Roekel yelled back. He turned his attention back to the monitor and began typing coordinates on the keyboard below it. "I'm sending a machine to retrieve her. It will stay out of sight until I tell it to take action."

As Van Roekel was typing the coordinates, a second screen popped up on the monitor revealing said machine. Unlike the lankier robot that Technus made short work of, the machine was much larger and had a small barrel mounted on its right wrist. It didn't seem to have hands, but rather four long spikes in a square formation.

"This looks interesting," Technus admired. "When will you strike?"

"Patience, ally," Van Roekel answered. "When the time is right."

* * *

Back at Casper High, all the students seemed to be thrilled to be leaving, save one. Paulina was pacing around a tree outside the school's entrence under an intense amount of stress.

"The ghost boy couldn't care for that loser," she said to herself, desperately trying to calm herself down, but failing miserably. "He saves people all the time. But why was he talking to her? 'Are you okay?' That can't link to affection, can it? That geek knows he's mine! She will not-" Paulina was interupted by a rustle in the tree she was pacing around, making her jump and gasp in fright. Before Paulina could question what could be up there, her attention was brought to to something she felt was more important.

"You geeks!" Paulina shouted before stomping in Danny, Sam, and Tucker's direction.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were surprised to see Paulina want their attention, namely because of how angry she appeared. "Do you guys think I should at least _pretend_ to fall for her?" Danny asked, still remembering how upset Paulina was when he chose not to dwadle over her.

"No, don't," Sam said, excited. "This should be hilarious."

Paulina stopped right in front of the three that made her day. She stared them down with a psychotic look, with her eyes wide open, her teeth gritted, and beathing loudly through her nose like an angry bull. "Do you know how cute you look when you're about to go into a maniacal rage?" Tucker asked, more concerned about a higher social status than Paulina herself.

"Do you three have ANY IDEA about how much you ruined my day?!" Paulina blaired. She pointed at Danny first and began accusing, "You were the first for ignoring me, saying you were 'over me.' Then _you_," she pointed at Tucker, "for trying to take advantage of my emotions!"

"It's a guy thing," Tucker simply explained, "what are you gonna do?"

"Are you an IDIOT?!" Paulina practically screamed. "I'm supposed to flirt with you to create jealous-much to that Fenton geek, but I wouldn't do that anytime soon even if it's just to get my kicks!"

"I'll have you know that I'm a very patient man," Tucker responded, still flirtatious. Paulina ignored Tucker and his ever-infuriating rule-bending and put her attention on Sam.

"And _you_...," Paulina hissed.

"Hold on, let me guess," Sam said, joking around. "You're mad at me for, what's that saying you use, 'gettin' up in your bid'ness' after Danny turned you down? Like I'll be sorry for that."

"Very funny, goth," Paulina said, on the verge on dementia. "Don't think I don't know anything, but I know everything!"

"You do?" Danny, Sam, and Tucker all said at once, equally nervous.

"Oh yeah," Paulina said. "I saw what happened in that ghost attack!" Danny, Sam, and Tucker were sweating bullets until Paulina actually explaine what she saw. "I know you're seeing the ghost boy's behind Fenton's back, you GOTH GEEK!" While Danny was giving a sigh of relief, Sam took the comment as some kind of a joke.

"Wait, you think..." Sam laughed. "Oh, man, you have no idea how wrong you are. First of all, Danny and I are _not_-"

"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME!" Paulina exploded. "You're just trying to win the popularity game by having what I don't have: a serious relationship with Danny Phantom!"

"Look, what you're saying is complete nonsense," Sam said. "Just because Phantom saved me doen't mean-"

"AHA!" Paulina bursted. "The parrot confesses to the general!"

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, her temper at boiling point. "I didn't say anything, and that wasn't even a good analogy!"

Danny and Tucker simply watched the arguement continue, the latter more excited than the former. "Oh boy," Tucker said, shaking with anticipation, "cat fight!"

* * *

Van Roekel observed the bickering that was taking place on his monitor. The girl in pink and the girl in black were arguing over some teenage matter while two boys watched on. The boy with the red beret seemed to be enjoying the bickering, as if waiting for something to happen. Van Roekel couldn't help but admire the girls and their arguement, but most of his attention was on the girl that started it.

Technus, however, was growing weary of simply waiting for Van Roekel's order. "What are you waiting for?!" Technus impatiently asked. "Abduct her already!"

"I'm waiting for the right moment," Van Roekel told the ghost behind him. "Unlike you, I don't want to cause a scene. I need to wait for her to be alone."

"It won't matter if those two morons are present!" Technus said, refering to Danny and Tucker. "The one in pink, you'll have to wait on. If she ever shuts up!" Technus was growing more irritated as he saw Sam and Paulina's fight continue. He just wanted Paulina to go away so that Sam would be involved in his plan.

"You've told me all I needed to know," Van Roekel simply said. He then pressed a button on his keyboard and spoke into a corisponding microphone. "Grab the one wearing the pink shirt."

"WHAT?!" Technus shouted, baffled.

* * *

"And if I see you with the ghost boy one more time," Paulina, still on her rampage, continued, "I SWEAR I'LL- OW!" Paulina was interupted by a sharp pain in the side of her neck. She grasped where the pain struck immediately and felt a little woozy. "What the heck... was..." She fell to the ground. The event severely frightened Sam and Tucker, but Danny immediately ran to her aid. He lifted her head to see the spot where Paulina grabbed and found a small needle there.

"I think Paulina's been tranquilized!" Danny said to Sam and Tucker, plucking the needle out of Paulina's neck.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Tucker said. "Get that ghost!"

"That's the thing!" Danny said. "My ghost sense should've gone off by now. Whatever did this wasn't a ghost." A loud thud caught the three's attention. An imposing robot had dropped from a nearby tree, and was making its way towards the teens.

"You know, I have a feeling that that's what did this," Sam pointed out.

"Guys, get Paulina outta here," Danny ordered. "I'll take care of this tin can." Sam and Tucker carried Paulina away, Sam by her arms and Tucker by her legs, and Danny went ghost to do battle with the robot.

He first fired a series of ghost rays at the robot, but it continued moving forward, the blasts doing nothing to stop its progress. Seeing how ranged attacks weren't doing anything, Danny flew at high speed to deliver a mach punch. Danny found himself surprised when the robot grabbed him before impact. The robot began to whirl its torso like a top at high speeds. Danny found himself in a situation where he could be tossed into the next city, which gave him the idea to go intangible to escape. His plan, however, backfired when at the moment he phased through the robot, the swinging momentum already gave enough force to send Danny flying. Danny _really_ should have paid attention in physics class.

With the ghost boy out of the way, the robot went towards where it saw those other kids go last.

Meanwhile, Sam and Tucker were well hidden, they thought, from the robot. ...okay, so it was behind the school, but they were sure Danny could take care of that thing. Paulina was laid against the wall, still knocked out from the tranquilizor. "You know," Tucker said, "you're the last person I'd expect to care about Paulina."

"Just because I hate her to her wretched, pink, and cuddley core," Sam said, "doesn't mean I want her kidnapped by some robot. I'm not _that_ heartless."

After a short moment of silence, Tucker uttered, "Man, I hope Danny's handling his own out there." He then took note on how he spoke too soon, as the robot showed up from around the corner. "Oh, come ON! This always happenes whenever it looks like we're in the clear!"

"Grab her and go!" Sam ordered, grabbing Paulina's arms again.

"And I'm better," Tucker said, enlightened. He took hold of Paulina's legs and ran of with Sam, with Paulina.

The robot did little to try to catch up. Rather, It shoved what ought to be its fingers into the ground and released a powerful seismic wave towards the fleeing teens. The wave caught up with the teens, first tripping Tucker from the back, then Sam, who was thrown back by the shockwave as well. The robot didn't hesitate to get Paulina from the ground. It took hold of one of Paulina's legs to take her with it, but Tucker wasn't giving up so easily. He grabbed onto on of Paulina's wrists and puller her back with all his might. All that might was practically nothing, as the robot simply tugged at Paulina, causing Tucker to collide with the robot's shin. The robot hucked Paulina on its shoulder, kicked Tucker off its foot, and disappeared. It literally up and vanished, with Paulina even!

"This is not good," Sam said to herself. She became even more worried when she saw Danny flying back.

"Where's that robot?" Danny asked touching down on the ground. Looking around, he more worriedly asked, "Where's Paulina?"

"Your guess is as good as ours," Sam said. "The robot took us down, grabbed Paulina and vanished. They could be anywhere!"

"On a side note," Tucker added, rather unnessesarily, "I got to hold her hand out of it."

"Tucker, this is serious," Danny said, getting edgy. "Someone was kidnapped!"

"Excuse me for adding comic relief," Tucker dejectedly said to himself.

"I gonna look for Paulina," Danny told his friends. Before he could take off, Sam grabbed ahold of Danny's shoulder.

"Danny, wait!" Sam said. "The robot just disappeared into nowhere. For what we know, Paulina might not even be on the same planet!"

"It's better to start here than not start at all," Danny said, flying off. He shouted back to his friends, "Hang out anywhere! Just tell my parents I'm with you!"

* * *

Back in the New York underground, Van Roekel was pleased with what just happened, yet was a bit bewildered with the happenings that took place. He pressed the button on his keyboard and spoke into the mic again, saying, "Well done. Take her to the operation room. I'll be there as soon as the girl's ready." He got up to be on his way, but Technus barged up in front of him.

"YOU GOT THE WRONG ONE!!!" Technus exploded.

"Oh really?" Van Roekel whimsically asked. "What took you so long to notice?"

It took Technus a few seconds to realize, "You abducted the wrong girl on PURPOSE?!"

"Of course," Van Roekel answered. "Her envious rage will make her easy to manipulate."

"FORGET ABOUT MANIPULATION!!!" Technus shouted. He made an action to strangle the bald man in front of him, but seemed to know better and stopped. He then looked around the room and muttered, "What can I use, what can I use, what can I use," and forced a bunch of the smaller machines in the area to meet above Van Roekels head and reform. Van Roekel wasn't sure how, but Technus managed to make some sort of artillary weapon out of the random junk and pointed it at Van Roekel's temple. "Any last words, punk!"

"Like you would," Van Roekel said. "You need me." Technus gave a glance of wonder before Van Roekel continued. "It became obvious when I saw that facinating boy transform. You wanted that other girl, a very good aquaintance to that child, so he could be easier for you to defeat! Maybe even use her as my latest experiment so she could do the job for you. Remind me, Technus, how many times did you attempt to take over this planet?" Technus started to fume again.

"But I digress," Van Roekel continued. "This girl is also an aquantance, and from what I picked up in her previous ranting, she loves the super side of the boy. This is a game you can't lose! So, now that I know you seek me to destroy that child, what do you say to letting me continue my work so it can actually be done?!"

Technus couldn't believe it. Was he that easy to read? He slammed his weapon down angrily and floated away, muttering things better left untold. Van Roekel simply grinned as he found he outsmarted Technus again. He began his walk to the operating room, looking at the sour ghost behind him and silently calling him, "Fool."

* * *

After several minutes, the operating room was filled with several of Van Roekel's assistants, shortly joined by Van Roekel himself, looking like the odd duck as he was still in his brown suit in front of the green gown-clad operators. Van Roekel observed his surroundings, seeing Paulina lying face-first against the operating table, her exposed back facing the operators, and a table with a syringe of Van Roekel's formula and a small motor.

"So, everything is ready?" Van Roekel asked his assistants. "I see the girl, the stablizer, the formula, it appears we are ready to go." Van Roekel made his way to the table and picked up the needle. He carefully observed its contents and continued, "From what I've been told by Technus, we must be very swift with this procedure. It should take at least nine minutes for the formula to make its way through the subjects system and render her a useless puddle. Are we all ready?" The operators all nodded, some more hesitant than others. Van Roekel positioned the needle and stuck it into the right spot along Paulina's spine.

"Let the operation," Van Roekel said, pushing down on the plunger, "begin!"


	6. Location, Unknown

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics.

* * *

Drown Your Sorrows

* * *

Chapter 6: Location, Unknown

* * *

Technus had been pacing around the lab for several minutes, wondering to himself why he was still with Van Roekel. Surely, he could beat Danny, now with a deminished will, take over the world and be done with it. Van Roekel's word's, however, were still ringing in his ears. He was quite touchy about how Danny foiled four of his plans. Maybe he really did need Van Roekel's assistance, yet he never found as a sign of weakness up until now. Yet Van Roekel seemed to have plans of his own. Did he really want this team-up for the same reason Technus did?

Later, Van Roekel walked into his lab, greeted by Technus pacing the floor. "Are you through tinking?" Van Roekel interupted Technus's wondering cycle, causing him to quickly hover to him.

"Have you finished working on the girl?" Technus asked.

"Oh, yes," Van Roekel answered. "The operation was a success, but not without a few side-effects. The sedative will keep her out for another hour or so, so we won't be able to test her until then." Van Roekel turned around to leave, but stopped shortly after and asked, "You know, since we have time to spare, perhaps you can tell me why this 'ghost boy' bothers you so?"

"Well, if you're so curious," Technus said, sounding a little bit touchy at the subject, "that child is part human and part ghost. A 'halfa' as some parts of the Ghost Zone know him. Every time I come to this realm to take over, he puts me back in the Ghost Zone! I tried building a power suit from a series of household appliances: ruined! I tried taking over the world wide web through a video game: ruined! I made a more improved power suit to drain the city's power: RUINED! I tried ruling the world through a fancy satalite: ALL RUINED!!!" Technus began breathing like an angry gorilla after explaining his many brushes with failure, slightly amusing Van Roekel.

"Those are interesting tactics," Van Roekel said. "So, now you seek my help?"

"Don't be so pushy, baldy!" Technus fumed. "You asked for my help first!"

"Hmm, true," Van Roekel responded, seemingly unphased by the harsh comment. "Well, you won't have to worry too long about that pesky Phantom. He'll be dealt with in a few days." Van Roekel began to exit his lab, but not before being stopped by Technus first.

"Wait a minute," Technus said, "a few _days_?! What about what you said about creating threats greater than me? They could finish the job quicker, couldn't they?"

Van Roekel chuckled and answered, "You'd rather I send out a creation that the boy has never seen, yet whose sight can give that they pose a threat, than send out a creation that the child actually knows from his past? I didn't know you wanted this to be a challenge." Van Roekel continued on, not caring about Technus's surprising nuetral reaction.

* * *

Danny had spent all day searching for any sign of Paulina or that robot he was fighting earlier. He honestly felt like giving up, since he couldn't find anything. He touched down on the docks, feeling incredibly miserable that he let this happen. Feeling his spirit has been broken, he reverted back to his human form, grabbed his cell-phone from his pocket and called Sam.

After a few rings, Sam picked and, using the caller ID, asked, "Did you find her, Danny?"

"I've searched the whole city twice and nothing," Danny answered. "Paulina's not here."

"Danny, I think you should rest it off," Sam said. "You been looking for almost an hour. I'm afraid you're gonna wear yourself out. Maybe you should let the police handle this, the news is already starting to spread."

Danny paused for a moment and then said, "Fine, but that doesn't mean I'm done looking. I'll go over to the next town tomorrow, if I have to. Besides, I got homework anyway." Danny hung up, put is phone back in his pocket, went back to his ghost form, and flew back home.

* * *

One bright light. A grayish-blue room. This is what Paulina woke up to. "Ungh, wha..." she dazily came to. "Where am I?" She got up from a bed she was apparently laying down on. She seated herself on the side of the bed and looked down on the unfamiliar floor... and the even more unfamiliar wardrobe. Instead of her favorite capri jeans and pink shirt, she found herself in a sleeveless black outfit with a blue belt and wrappings around her forearms, apparently made from the same material as the outfit. The shock in the sudden outfit change scared her to a stand, to which she quickly lost balance having quickly ignored her new blure heeled boots. The loss of balance caused her to stumble into a wall.

"These aren't mine!" Paulina said, frightened about the outfit situation. She quickly looked on the bright side and noticed, "Well, at least the boots match the belt." Paulina took to the realization that she must've been kidnapped and gave the empty threat of, "They better not have messed with my hair..." She inspected her hair to see if such a thing has happened. Everything seemed normal until the point where her hair met her shoulders, where it started to feel a little wet. As she felt further down, her hair seemed wetter, and wetter, up until the points where instead of hair, it was just a glob of... wetness.

Seriously freaked out, she pulled her hand in front of her, noticing how wet it really was. It didn't stay wet for long, though. The water seemed to absorb into her hand. It was completely dry again, without any of those pruney after-effects. Very scared at what was happening, Paulina took a hold on a dryer lock of her hair, needing to know what was wrong with it. She slowly pulled the lock in front of her, and to her horror, while half of it looked normal, the other half appeared to look like... water. And it was actually dripping! Paulina knew she had flowing locks, but this was ridiculous!

Paulina ran back to the bed, shrieking and still a bit off-balance. She shut her eyes tight, curled herself in a fetal position, and told herself, "It's only a dream, it's only a dream, it's only a dream..." She'd pinch herself, but she didn't want to risk damaging her flawless skin.

"You are not dreaming," a voice said, causing Paulina to franticly look around the room. "This is all very real." Paulina spotted the source of the voice. A small speaker was positioned in a high corner of the room.

"You can hear me?" Paulina had to ask.

"Yes, quite clearly," the speaker spoke.

"Who are you," Paulina timidly asked, "and what did you do to me?"

"My name is Doctor Niles Van Roekel," the speaker said. "And you are my latest creation."

Paulina's fear turned into anger, making her shout, "I didn't ask to be made into some... drippy-haired FREAK!"

"But you have been given a marvelous gift," Van Roekel told her. "You have the ability to use the water around you as a form of defense. ...if my calculations are correct."

"You kidnapped me on a GUESS?!?" Paulina furiously asked. "I don't know what you want to do with me, but I'm not doing it!"

"But you don't understand," Van Roekel mockingly pleaded. "You could use your abilities to defend yourself against your foes, perhaps even impress... Danny Phantom."

Paulina's eyes widened at the mention of the name. She was clearly surprised. "How did you..."

"I know a lot about you, young lady," Van Roekel calmingly said. "Like how that other girl in black is trying to steal the boy away from you." Paulina's eyes began to water at the statement. She found herself in an emotional, confused wreck. Should she trust Van Roekel, based on how much he knows, or should that be a reason to say no? "I see you are still confused on what your decision should be. I'll give you a day to think about it, since all of this has happened so quickly to you."

Paulina was suddenly all by herself again. Amidst the silence, she continued to lay on her bed, crying to herself about what she ought to do.

* * *

Well, that ended rather suddenly. Anyway, for those that don't have an idea on what I just described about Paulina's recent appearence, here's a link below.

www(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)deviation(slash)41141774

Originally, I was just gonna tell about Paulina's time with Van Roekel, but it seemed a bit bland, so now I have this filler back at Amity Park. So, there's my thoughts about it. Review away!


	7. Ability 101

I'll say it right now that this chapter is not as good as the others. I've been so abrorbed into the way the story started and how it ended that I never really focused on the part and couldn't think of a darn thing. It's practically made up on the scene. Go easy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics.

* * *

Drown Your Sorrows

* * *

Chapter 7: Ability 101

* * *

The next day at Casper High School, everyone began talking about Paulina's disappearence. Most speculated a kidnapping, either by person or ghost, but others, namely the nerds, had more bizarre theories, like how karma gave her an unpoppable pimple, forcing her to run away and go under a new identity.

Meanwhile, Danny had gathered Sam and Tucker to his locker to discuss searching for Paulina. "Okay, guys," Danny began, "whatever took Paulina may be moving like crazy."

"Can't you just take that she's not in Amity Park anymore?" Sam mentioned.

"Only after this," Danny answered. "We may be able to find Paulina if we split up. You catch more fish with a wider net, right?"

"And with just one fish to find, it shouldn't be too tough, should it?" Tucker added.

"Sam, you look in the eastern side of town," Danny instructed, "Tucker, you take the west. I'll cover north and south."

"This could actually work," Sam said, taking a liking to the idea. "So, which way's north?" Danny didn't answer right away. In fact, he plain old didn't answer.

"Don't worry about that," Tucker said, whipping out his PDA. "I installed a directional program into my PDA." After pressing a few buttons, an image of a compass showed up on his PDA. "North should be..." He held his PDA flat and rotated it until the front pointed in the right direction. "That way!"

"Tucker, you're a genius!" Danny exclaimed.

"I have my moments," Tucker simply said.

While Danny, Sam, and Tucker were conversing, Kwan and Star passed by, talking about Paulina's disappearence. What else was there _to_ talk about? "I honestly think Paulina was taken by a ghost," Star said to Kwan. "It wouldn't surprise me if it was that Danny Phantom guy."

"I DID NOT-" Danny shouted, stopping himself before he could blow his cover. The two turned around at the rather random outburst, causing Danny to sweat a bit, along with Sam and Tucker. Danny tried to recover by saying, "...uh, did not know that he had any involvement in Paulina's kidnapping, since, you know, he's good and everything. ...Right?"

"That's what I was thinking!" Kwan said, completly ignoring how awkward Danny sounded. "I mean, Dash told us about how the ghost kid saved his life, so why would he..."

"Kwan, stop wasting your breath on these losers," Star said, dragging Kwan by the ear.

After the two were gone, Sam slyly said, "Smooth, Danny. Real smooth."

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Van Roekel's lab, Van Roekel wasn't doing much of anything. He was mearly sitting in a chair in an observation deck, observing a large empty room. He wasn't so much looking as waiting. Waiting on Paulina. The sound of the mechanical door opening behind him would most likely supply him his answer. Without turning around, he asked, "So, I take you've decided, Miss... I'm sorry, I don't believe I know your name."

"Um... I-it's Paulina," Paulina answered, nervously.

"Yes, Paulina," Van Roekel acknowledged, now turning around. "So, what have you decided upon?"

"Well, I really want to impress the ghost boy," Paulina started, "and since I think I'm stuck like this, I guess you can show me what I can do."

"Hmm, interesting reasoning," Van Roekel said, "I can understand why you chose to do so." He spun his chair back around and continued, "Exit this room, take the first hallway on your right, then take the second elevator to your right. Go down, and we'll see what you are capable of."

"Okay," Paulina said, leaving. The door opened and closed again.

Van Roekel, now by himself again, found himself with company once more. He spotted Technus reappearing from the corner of his eye. "That seemed easy," he commented.

"She's still confused," Van Roekel said. "She'll accept her fate eventually. I can't say how long. So, how long have you been hiding there?"

"I arrived when she did," Technus said. "I'm keeping an eye on her as much as you are. However, she can't know I'm here. If she knows a ghost like myself is involved, she'll most likely abandon us."

"Good theory," Van Roekel thought, "but I highly doubt she'll want to leave into the open world as a, how did she say it, 'drippy-haired freak.'"

"Mr. Van Roekel?" The two turned their attention to the room on the other side of the glass. Paulina had already arrived. Van Roekel took note of it and spoke into a microphone.

"Ah, yes, you're there," Van Roekel said. "Now, I've conducted a series of commands that, I hypothesize, should assist with the development of your abilities."

"So," Paulina said, "I just have to do what you say I'll be able to do stuff?"

"I suppose you could put it that way," Van Roekel said, not finding much sense in what Paulina just said. "Now first, I want you to relax your body. I know it will be difficult, seeing your situation, but try your best to do so."

Paulina understood what she was told. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind of all things at first, forgetting she was in a secret lab, forgetting she had a waterfall for a hairstyle, forgetting practically all of yesterday. Her mind was clear, her body was relaxed... her body was sinking? She felt as if she was standing on some sort of platform and was being lowered. She opened her eyes to be sure, and what she saw when she looked down caused her to scream. Her body from just a little above the waist and down was a puddle! It was only for a moment, as her body formed back into a solid, causing her to stumble back and land on her behind.

"Wh-wh-what just happened?!" Paulina frantically asked.

"Well, you were becoming a puddle," Van Roekel informed. "As I suspected, your stability is dependant on your body's tension. You were calm and relaxed at first, but your reaction to what just happened tensed your body too much for you to maintain."

"Oh, I think I understand," Paulina said. She then brought up the curious question, "But what about my-?"

"Your outfit is designed to mimic your molecular structure," Van Roekel informed, "meaning it will become liquid at the same time you do. If you were to become a liquid in normal clothing... well, the results would be rather embarassing." Paulina understood this also, not wanting to delv into further details. "Now, relax your body again, but try not to react as you did previously."

Paulina did what she did last time, closing her eyes and relaxing her body and mind. She felt that sinking feeling, as much as she wanted to panic again for knowing what was happening, she calmed her nerves the best she could until she felt completely under. When that feeling came, she opened her eyes again. What she saw left her in awe. The room around her had a blue hue and was moving like waves. It was as if she was looking up from the bottom of the ocean. She started moving around, it was just like walking to her, still in that below-ground-level perspective. She was in total amazement at seeing things from a new perspective, until she head Van Roekel say, "Now reform!" in a rather distorted way. The surprise demand took Paulina by surprise, and before she knew it, she found herself face down on the steel floor.

Paulina got back up and shouted back up to the observation deck, "Did you see that? It was so pretty! Everything was blue and-"

"Yes, fantastic," Van Roekel dismissed, not seeming to care what Paulina had to say. "I see you managed to get moving as a puddle down to pat as well, but we'll have to work on bringing yourself up to a stationary position. Now I want you to relax only your arms."

"What for?" Paulina asked.

"Hopefully, we'll see," Van Roekel simply said.

Paulina didn't ask any further and did as instructed. She let her arms go slack, expecting something to happen. She looked down at one of her slack arms and found it becoming as watery as her hair. Before whatever was happening could get to her elbow, she flinched, causing her arms to solidify again. It was then she figured what was happening here. If relaxing her body could make her a puddle, relaxing her arms would make her arms... the same way. So, she let her arms go slack again, this time allowing the liquid takeover of her arms. When the takeover was complete, Paulina was still a little freaked on how what ought to be her arms were still attatched to her.

"Good," Van Roekel said, observing what was happening. "Now I want you to..." There was a pause, as Van Roekel wasn't exactly sure how to phrase his next instruction. This made Technus chuckle a bit, making Van Roekel give him a sharp stare. Van Roekel turned back to the microphone and said, "Force your arms... down, somehow."

Paulina was a bit confused. Wouldn't farce make her arms solidify again? "How do I do that?" she had to ask, still keeping her arms slack.

"Figure it out!" Van Roekel said, turning red in frustration and embarassment. Technus simply chuckled again.

Paulina didn't seem to have much a choice except to improvise. She thought the best she could to think of how to force her arms without losing the liquid state they were in. Her first thought was to forse her arms up to her, but when she did that, they quickly became normal. Bringing her arms back to liquid form, she triedforcing her shoulders to do something. At least they weren't her entire arms. She quickly brought them up in a shrugging manner, and before she knew it, she was struggling to keep her balance, like something was trying to push her upwards. It lasted only a moment, so Paulina had no idea of what just heppened.

"That was superb!" Van Roekel exclaimed, clearly thrilled. His excitement still up, Van Roekel told Paulina, "Now I want you to do what you did again, but this time, try to bring your arm straight foward."

Paulina let her arms go slack again. When the water took over her arms, she raised one of them up slowly, not to put to much tension in it. Paulina was surprised to see gravity wasn't affecting the liquid pillar of an arm as she slowly brought it up. It didn't collapse back down or anything. When her arm was fully in front of her, she forced her shoulder back, making her aquatic limb fire like a high-powered hose. Paulina was shocked to see the power of the blast from her arm, which was turning back to normal. The puddle that the blast left behind was around six to seven feet from where she was standing. She looked at the hand she just fired out of with a stunned look.

"I did that?" Paulina asked herself. "That... was... _COOL!!!_" Paulina became unbelievably giddy at what just happened. "It's like I'm a superhero or something! I could be... the ghost boy's sidekick..." She dreamily thought back to Danny Phantom, then her thoughts went back to Sam Manson. She didn't forget about yesterday, and determinedly said, "I'll be much better than that goth geek." She let out another blast of water for her own amusement.

Back in the observation deck, Van Roekel, having eavesdropped on what Paulina was saying to herself, turned to Technus with a sly smile. Technus gave Van Roekel an equally sly grin.

"Houston," Technus said, "we have motivation!"

* * *

Well, that turned out better than I thought. Leave a review now. ...Vote for LaKisha! 


	8. Closer Than You Think

Now is kinda the part where I tick a lot of people off. I'm skipping ahead to three days later. You probably wanna see Paulina get more used to her new powers or see more bickering from Technus and Van Roekel, but I'm skipping ahead because I can't imagine how far Danny will go to find Paulina. As far as I know, three days is enough to get him to search the next state over, and I'm just not able to write that much filler. I'm not saying Paulina's side has filler. In fact, I'm more convinced the story's more about her than Danny. It's just that Danny's parts are difficult to write, as the idea popped into my head when I was writing chapter six. He's the filler. Well, you can all take this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics.

* * *

Drown Your Sorrows

* * *

Chapter 8: Closer Than You Think

* * *

_It only took a matter of days for young Paulina to master her skills. She had learned to be relaxed and aggressive at the same time. It was beautiful... yet almost terrifying at the same time. I could only imagine her lust for Danny Phantom and her wrath for the "goth geek" was pushing her forward. It's unfortunate that those traits and my foolishness would lead me to lose her. But back to the subject. Because she had advanced so quickly, I had decided to give her a field test. Of course, Technus had his hand in when and where...

* * *

_

"So what you are saying," Van Roekel asked, "is that I ought to provoke her the best I can to attack the girl? With her intensity, it shouldn't take much at all."

"Exactly what I was thinking!" Technus exclaimed. "The ghost child will be much easier to destroy with his hopes down!" Technus let out a manic cackle, drawing an odd look from Van Roekel.

"Are you suggesting she should kill her?" Van Roekel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's not like I'm saying she should," Technus pointed out, "but she could."

"And what does this have to do with Danny Phantom?"

"Quite a lot, if all goes right."

Van Roekel then asked, "So are you saying it may or may not affect your plan should Paulina kill the girl?"

"Will you just let the events unfold?!" Technus bursted.

Van Roekel sighed and said, "Fine then. I'll get Paulina." He left Technus to do so.

* * *

The floor of the training facility in the underground laboratory was flooded with about four inches of water. Hovering above the pool was a large glowing blue orb. Some twenty feet away from the orb stood an aquatic form. "Stood" can't exactly describe the form. While it had a feminine looking body, what ought to be its legs were merged together, and its feet appeared to be non existent as its base was melted into the shallow pool. In only a few short days, Paulina had already learned how to form her body in her melted state.

She took aim at the blue orb, raising her arm, ready to fire a blast of water at it. She fired her blast, hitting the very distant orb, causing a light explosion. It used to be that Paulina couldn't fire a shot further then her body length before it lost momentum, but in a flooded area, she found she could shoot much farther.

"Paulina!" Van Roekel called. Paulina looked back to she the man on the other side of the room. She glided across the water towards Van Roekel at a speed faster than most people can sprint.

Reforming back to a normal appearance, she greet him with an unusually peppy, "Hi, Mr. Van Roekel!" She then looked down to see him standing in the same shallow pool as she was. "Sorry about your shoes."

"Hmm? Oh, these," Van Roekel acknowledged, observing his wet feet. "They're not important. Come with me, young lady." Paulina did so, leaving the training room and towards the elevator to the next floor up.

In the elevator, Van Roekel briefed Paulina on what he had in mind. "Well, Paulina," he started, "since you have advanced much quicker than I expected, I thought now would be a good time to execute a field test."

Paulina looked a little shocked. "A field test?"

"Yes," Van Roekel answered. "And where better to execute than your home in Amity Park?"

"Really?!" Paulina excitedly asked as the elevator reached its destination floor. As the two stepped out, Paulina's excitedness made her move at a faster pace than Van Roekel.

"I figured you'd be excited," Van Roekel acknowledged.

"It's because I can show the ghost boy what I can do!" Paulina said, unable to contain herself. "I can fight ghosts with him and we'll be making out in no time! I've even come up with a cool superhero name for me!"

"Have you?" Van Roekel said, doing the best he can to remain interested.

"Yeah," Paulina said before stopping for a dramatic pose. "I'll be, 'Water Girl!'" There was a pause, which was more along the lines of bafflement by the looks of Van Roekel's face. "It's cool, right?"

"...No," Van Roekel simply said. "It's not cool." He then continued for his destination.

Paulina caught back up to Van Roekel and asked, "It's not? But why?"

"If you want to use an alias for your new self," Van Roekel suggested, "try selecting one that will strike fear into your opponent."

"Okay," Paulina said. After a short brainstorm, she shouted, "'Aqua Girl!'"

"Now you're just _trying_ to be... what's that word you use? 'Lame,' I believe?"

"If you're so smart, why don't you think of one!"

Van Roekel thought for a short moment before considering, "Have you thought of, 'Downpour?'"

"That sounds cool," Paulina said. She then asked, "What does it mean?"

"A downpour," Van Roekel explained as he and Paulina reached the doors to the teleportation room, "is a heavy fall of rain. And, if I may add, it's fitting to such a young beauty such as yourself." Paulina blushed at Van Roekel's comment. "Now I want you to go to that pod over there, but take this with you first." Van Roekel reached into his pocket and pulled out a device Paulina couldn't exactly make out. It was small and had a button in the center of it. "This goes into your ear. It is coated with the same material as your outfit, so you won't lose it in your liquid state. Pressing the button will send you back here."

Paulina put the device in her ear as Van Roekel instructed and stepped into one of the three pods in the room. "By the way," Van Roekel quickly added, "it's best you keep your identity hidden. We wouldn't want to cause a stir over what's happened to you in your hometown, would we?" Paulina nodded in understanding, her vanity still keeping her scared about what others would think if they saw her the way she was.

Van Roekel sat behind a keyboard and typed in a series of coordinates. One more press of a button, and Paulina was gone in a bright flash.

Once again out of nowhere, Technus appeared in front of Van Roekel. "So now all we have to do is wait and see what happens," Technus said to him.

"Yes, but waiting can be so boring," Van Roekel said. "Frankly, I'm curious to see what this ghost child can do." He then gave Technus a mischievous grin and said, "And you know how I said I've created greater threats than you?"

"Ooh, I like where this is going!" Technus said, shaking with anticipation.

Van Roekel then pressed a button on his computer near microphone and said, "Solara, would you please come to the teleportation room?"

* * *

In Amity Park, Paulina couldn't believe she was back home. She was walking downtown to see not much had changed. Looking around, a street post caught her eye, as it had a missing poster with her picture on it. Paulina couldn't believe what she saw. "My parents are offering a cash reward?" she whined. "I could've used that money to buy a new fleecy tee!" 

Before Paulina could take it down, she heard something that sounded like a motor. Taking Van Roekel's advice, she quickly melted into a puddle, something anyone could easily drive past. The humming item came into view. Rather than the passing car she expected, Paulina saw a passing moped. However, it was what was on the moped that got Paulina's blood boiling. Even with a slightly distorted image, Paulina could spot that fashion disaster anywhere. Sam Manson just rode past her.

Paulina wasn't about to let Sam go quietly and took pursuit.

* * *

Meanwhile, Danny was heading to school on a moped of his own, choosing to take a more normal way to get to school than fly there to avoid the off-chance of a few raised eyebrows. However, Danny couldn't help but get a little upset after riding past a couple of of Paulina's "missing" posters. Danny brushed his feelings off and continued to school. 

As Danny was continuing his ride to school, he noticed the temperature suddenly got warmer. Within moments, he was sweating. Being used to the paranormal, Danny turned around to see he was being followed by what apparently caused the temperature shift. He quickly turned back around, not getting a good look at who or what was flying behind him. It wasn't long until Danny felt an intense amount of heat at the base of his moped, causing the battery powering it to explode. Danny jumped off just as that happened, running off the street to see his scooter continue rolling in flames until it fell over.

Danny then turned back to his pursuer. This wasn't a normal person, let alone a ghost. The person, a woman, was enveloped in enveloped in flames and was in a bright orange body suit that literally covered her whole body, save for fer face, which allowed Danny to tell she was of Asian decent.

"Danny Phantom!" she called.

Danny was surprised to know she knew of him, but thought it would be best to avoid a fight by playing dumb. "I don't know who you're talking about," Danny said.

"Save it, Danny Fenton!" the woman said, giving some shock to Danny on how she knew so much. "I am Solara, and I have come to challenge you!"

"Look, I don't know who you're talking about," Danny said, continuing to play dumb, "and you owe me a new scooter!"

"Fine then," Solara simply said. "I suppose she's not important to you."

Danny now was interested. "Who?" he asked.

Solara grinned and flew towards a street post. "You don't know?" she taunted. "Only the person on every post in this town. Only the person that _you_ lost!" Solara grabbed the poster on the post, which began to burn in her hand. "Only the person _we_ have!"

"You have Paulina?!" Danny angrily said, now ready for a fight. Forgetting his whole play dumb strategy, Danny shifted into ghost-mode and flew head-on toward his opponent. "It is ON, hot-head!"

"Look who's calling who a hot-head," Solara said, dropping the ashes from the poster she burned and charging back at Danny.

* * *

Elsewhere, Sam was continuing on her way to school. Casper High was beginning to come within view when suddenly, her moped came to a sudden and mysterious stop. Thinking her scooter was just being stubborn, she pushed it into high gear and got no result. Frustrated, she got off to observe the situation and found her rear tire over a puddle. 

Unless she just drove over a flooded pothole, Sam had no reason to get stuck. All she had to do was lift the scooter up and continue going. Once again, the scooter wouldn't budge. A second look, and Sam saw why. The puddle was somehow gripping the moped on the back wheel. "Encasing" was perhaps a better term.

Knowing better, Sam slowly backed away from the puddle. Something was eerie about it, and it was proven even more so when a stream wrapped around her ankle. Sam struggled, but it wouldn't let go. Sam needed to defend herself, so she took her spider backpack off her back and beat the liquid tentacle with it. Sure enough its grip loosened, to which Sam fled, needing to abandon her scooter. She could always buy another one.

Like any curious, fear-stricken girl, Sam looked back to see if the puddle would come after her. It didn't seem so for a moment until it began to rise. It rose to a reasonable height until it took on a feminine shape. "Oh, crud," Sam said. She couldn't see an expression in the water thing's face, let alone _any_ face, but knew what was coming.

Sam ran toward the school before any confrontation could begin. Too late for that, as a blast of water just grazed the top of her head. Sam looked over her shoulder, seeing the water thing moving after her, its right "arm" reform from a long stretch as it readied its left one. Sam turned back around and tried ducking, but the shot hit her in the back, almost causing her to lose almost her balance forward. Sam quickly regained herself as she made it to the school grounds.

She was almost home free, or at least she hoped. Sam looked over her shoulder again. The water thing was still after her, but now it chose to take on a different form. It shifted into the shape of a shark head before her very eyes. Sam was now sprinting to the school, its entrance just a few feet away. She didn't bother looking back, not seeing the water thing slowly gaining on her. Finally, she reached the door, pulling it open as fast as she could and forcing it closed. She barricaded the door with her body, panting heavily as several students just observed the strange girl.

"Water... thing!" Sam panted. "Out to... get me!" The students that bothered to listen just stared at her, some even giggling. "But it's... right out... side!" Not thinking straight, Sam pulled the door open to prove the water thing's exsistance, shielding herself behind the door.

The students looked out to see nothing. Sam looked out with them seeing the same thing. "But it was-!" She didn't know what else to say.

"You know, Manson," Star commented from the crowd, "if you want to get attention, do something more traditional. Like joining the cheer squad, maybe?" Some students chose to laugh with her, mostly to get on her good side.

"You know, Star," Sam remarked, "your high school status wouldn't be where it is if Paulina hadn't been abducted."

"PAULINA'S ABSENSE DID _NOT _MAKE ME WHO I AM!" Star exploded. Sam apparently struck a nerve. "I've always been the most popular girl in Casper! She was _my_ satellite. MINE!!! You ever mention that spotlight stealing leech, I'LL..." Extremely frustrated, Star clasped her hand together in a strangle motion. Sam thought it'd be best to not say anything else.

Star stomped away, passing many shocked students. "That's my girlfriend," Kwan said proudly to one student.

"...congratulations," the student sarcastically replied.

* * *

Danny was in airiel combat with Solara, yet wasn't fairing too well. She easily dodged the ghost rays he fired and he couldn't lay a fist on her without risking burn. She moved in the air like a ribbon in the breeze. 

"What are you doing with Paulina?!" Danny demanded, firing more ghost rays at his foe.

"I'd like to answer you," Solara said, weaving past each ray, "but where's the fun in that?" She then let out a stream of fire at Danny, who quickly put up an ecto-shield around himself.

Danny was holding the flames back, but could still feel the intensity of the fire, sweating buckets. It almost became to much for him. Fortunately, the fire stopped. Danny put his shield down, but was so disoriented from the heat, he didn't notice Solara had moved herself directly in front of him. Solara grabbed Danny arm and performed a martial arts throw on him, sending him back to the ground.

Danny was hurting now. His arm was burnt with his jumpsuit still smoking and his body ached from the impact he made with the ground. He began to get back up until he noticed what he had just been thrown next to that could help him defeat Solara. A fire hydrant! What are the odds?

"Had enough, Phantom?" Solara taunted, not noticing her opponent's intent.

"Actually," Danny said, fully back, "I was just about to end this!" Danny fired at the hydrant in just the right place to blast water at Solara. Solara didn't see the action coming, and couldn't react fast enough to avoid the blast of water. It sent her plummeting to the ground, steam rising from her body. She was down, but not out. She got back up and ran at Danny out of desperation to finish him. The steam rising from her body gave Danny an eerie jive.

"Solara," Danny said, his green eyes turning a crisp blue, "you need to chill!" His eyes then fired an ice blast at Solara. She she tried shielding herself, but it was in vain. Danny's Phantom Phreeze turned her into an ice sculpture. Danny grinned at his victory, but it didn't appear to last long as Solara began to steam again. Before Danny knew it, Solara exploded out of her frozen shell, her body burning as if she had been in that previous battle.

Danny readied himself for round two, when suddenly, Solara said, "Fine, you win... This time."

Danny didn't expect it to be that easy. He quickly took this as an opportunity to get information about Paulina. "Okay, now tell me where Paulina is!"

Solara chuckled and said, "Why should I? To give you hope?" She took off to the air and continued, "Please." She then tapped the side of her head and in a bright flash, she was gone.

Danny couldn't believe it! He finally found someone associated with Paulina's capture and she got away. Mentally beating himself up, he decided it was best to inform Sam and Tucker when he got to school.

* * *

Yeah, I made Star a loony. I really feel I'm making things seem _way_ too convenient, but if it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother me. Now review. ...Man, I wish I had a better title for this chapter. 


	9. Drown Your Sorrows

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics.

* * *

Drown Your Sorrows

* * *

Chapter 9: Drown Your Sorrows

* * *

During their lunch break, Danny, Sam, and Tucker were bringing things up to datewith the recent happenings. They had decided to talk more about it in the school hallway where it was less crowded. "So you think this Solara chick is related to the Paulina case?" Tucker asked.

"I don't think," Danny corrected, "I know. She said she was with them."

"'Them,' as in more than one?" Tucker asked, a bit nervous. "Danny, I've seen a lot of sci-fi movies. Fire people are _not_ cool. Literally. Even with your ice powers, you'd still be toast. Again, literally."

"Well, it's nothing a single Fenton Thermos can't handle, right?" Sam assumed.

"That's just it!" Danny said. "This thing wasn't a ghost! My ghost sense would've caught it if it was!" Danny stopped for a moment and came to a great realization. "I think we're dealing with superpeople."

"Correction," Tucker quickly interjected, "_you're_ dealing with superpeople! I'm not getting burned, shocked, frozen, melted, or any other form of destructive villian stuff if it can't be contained in a vacuum flask!" Tucker clearly didn't want any part of what would take place. Besides, all that ranting left his mouth dry. He went over to a nearby water fountain. When Tucker activated it, Sam yelped and shielded herself behind Danny.

Curious, Danny question, "Geez, Sam, why the sudden hydrophobia?"

A little uneasy, Sam answered, "Well, on my way to school, I was attacked by this... water thing. I don't know why, but I think it's out to get me. Or it could be trying to get to you through me."

As Sam began collect her nerves and move away from Danny, Danny began to think their seperate attacks weren't just coincidence. "Do you think this water thing could be realated to Solara and Paulina's kidnapping?" he wondered.

Tucker suddenly jumped back to his previous tyrade, releasing the water fountain and crying out, "Robots, fire people, and now water things?!? I don't know about you guys, but I am _this_ close," he pinched his fingers together, "to an early retirement!"

"Geez, Tuck," Danny commented at his friends meltdown, "you don't have to go all mental chicken about-" Looking beyond Tucker, Danny noticed the water fountain was still running. And despite the drain at the end, it seemed to be flooding. Tucker saw Danny was distracted, and turned around to see the big deal. Water was already on the floor.

"Please tell me you broke the fountain, Tucker," Sam begged in terror, seeing the puddle begin to rise.

"Is it worse to say that I did or that I didn't?" Tucker asked in the same tone, seeing the puddle rise more and take shape.

Sam fled before the water thing could complete its reforming, shouting back, "DIDN'T!"

Danny and Tucker watched Sam flee as a stream of water blasted right at her off the corner of their eyes. They turned back to see the water thing take a feminine shape as it had with Sam. Whatever this thing was, it wanted Sam for whatever reason and began to take pursuit.

After the chase disappeared in another hallway, Danny switched to his ghost form and said to Tucker, "We have to go after that thing!"

"You heard me before, man," Tucker said. "I am _not_ doing superpeople."

"So you just wanna stay here and let that water thing get to Sam so it can potentially drown her?" Danny asked. Tucker didn't answer right away, to which Danny simply said, "Suit yourself," and flew away.

Tucker simply watched Danny go off to save Sam. Danny's words were a bit scary, but he was defiante on his choice... for about five seconds. "Darn it!" he frustratingly shouted, rushing to where the chase was happening to reluctantly help out any way he can.

Meanwhile Sam continued to run away from her liquid pursuer. Whatever beef this it had on her, it had it bad. The water thing caught up with Sam and lashed a tentacle-ish arm around her ankle, causing her to trip and fall to the floor. Sam tried to escape, but its grip was surprisingly solid. Its other arm lashed out at Sam's other leg, and Sam noticed that as it drew closer, the water began to crawl up her body more. Sam couldn't escape. The water was rising, and she wasn't even in an ocean.

Just as the water was about to reach her throat, two green blasts shot the water thing from behind, blowing the water thing to bits and releasing Sam from her watery grave on linoleum. Sam was super-glad to see that Danny had saved her, even if it was cut a little too close for comfort. Suddenly, the puddle that that remained of the water thing began to rise up, to which Sam crawled away from quickly and Danny got ready to shoot another blast of energy. After the thing reformed to the shape Sam was most familiar with seeing, it took a more solid appearence that made Danny, Sam, and Tucker's, who had just arrived on the scene, jaws drop.

"Paulina?!" Danny gasped. Her hair may have looked like a waterfall and she was wearing something close to what he had, but Danny could tell it was Paulina from the excited grin on her face. He knew what was coming next.

"Ghost boy!" Paulina said, running at Danny and giving him a mighty hug.

"Yep, it's Paulina," Sam concluded for everyone.

"Oooh, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you!" Paulina said, shaking Danny around as she hugged him. Danny had to push her back just to get her off of him.

"What happened to you?" Danny asked, just as curious as everyone else.

"Well," Paulina began, "I was taken by this Van Roekel guy, and he did these things to me, and now I can do this!" She took on her liquid form again to show her crush, then went back to her normal form. "Isn't that cool?"

"You have water powers now?" Tucker said. "That is SO hot!"

"Will you stop hitting on her?!" Danny and Sam shouted, along with Paulina's, "Will you stop hitting on me?!"

Tucker simply stared at the three before finally throwing his arms up and going, "Fine, I'll lower my standards!"

Turning back to the matter at hand, Danny tried to comunicate with Paulina. "Listen, Paulina," he started. It was about all he could get out.

"Oh, and my name's 'Downpour' now," Paulina said, "which I think is a cool name..."

"Paulina..."

"Because I can get a 'DP' thingy on my costume too, and everyone would know we're an item..."

"Paulina..."

"And I can tell any other girl not to mess with you romanticly by hosing them down, so you can be all..."

"PAULINA!!!"

Paulina quickly quieted down at Danny's sudden outburst. After a moment, she meekly finished, "...mine."

"Now look," Danny said, a bit angry than he ought to be, "I know what you're trying to do, but you are taking it _way_ too far. You're going as far as killing someone to get my attention! If you're actually going to reduce yourself to this, I can't look at you the same way!"

Danny's words pushed Paulina to the very edge of crying. "Are you," she sniffed, "breaking up with me?" She turned away from Danny to hide the inevitable water works.

"Break-?!" Danny said, confused. "Paulina, we were never toge-AHH!!!" Danny was swiftly interupted when Paulina spun back around and blasted him a few feet back. The action surprised Sam and Tucker.

Extremely upset, Paulina screamed, "I do ALL this for you, and you turn you're back on me!?!"

"WHAT?! You just told me some guy did _gurgle-blublulbl_!" Danny was then held back against a wall by Paulina's blasts.

"Fine then!" Paulina said, driven in a new goal. "If _I_ can't have you, then no one can!" Not even thinking anymore due to the distress she had been given, Paulina began drowning Danny up against a wall.

Sam got up to try to stop Paulina from possibly killing her friend. Before she could reach her, Paulina looked back and lifted a leg back at Sam, shooting a stream of water from it to keep Sam back. "You're next, geek!" Paulina threatened. She then turned to Tucker, who decided to just stay there and whistle humbly.

What Paulina didn't see was while she was distracted by Sam and Tucker, Danny utilized his Phantom Phreeze to make the water surrounding him into ice. It also reached Paulina's streaming arms, turning them into columns of ice. Noticing a sudden cold feeling, Paulina looked back and found herself stuck while trying to finish Danny off. She was surprised even further to see Danny phase out of the ice he should have been trapped in.

"We need to talk!" Danny ordered, clearly unhappy with what Paulina was trying to do.

Paulina began weeping in short bursts before crying, "No fair!" She tried pulling back as hard as she could to get away, which she succeeded in, albiet leaving her armless. The action made Danny and his friends cringe, and it creeped them out more when they started reforming as she ran away.

Danny recovered from the rather disturbing scene and took chase to Paulina, calling out, "Wait!" Sam and Tucker were still rather disturbed.

"That is the sickest thing I've ever seen," Tucker said.

"'Cool' sick, or 'gross' sick?" Sam asked.

"Kinda both, actually," Tucker answered. The two shook off their nerves and ran after Danny.

Meanwhile, as Danny was chasing after Paulina, he noticed she was reaching under her hair to the side of her head, maybe her ear. Recalling how his battle with Solara ended, Danny picked up the pace, but before he knew it, Paulina was surrounded by a bright flash and she disappeared, just as Danny was closing in on her.

Sam and Tucker caught up with Danny, who paused after what just happened. "Well, at least we know she's okay," Tucker said, looking to the bright side.

Danny didn't say anything. Instead, he took out his frustrations by punching the nearest locker. In a single blow, he punched the door off its hinges, not to mention giving it a nasty dent. He reverted back to his human form and walked away, not letting his friends see the tears in his eyes.

"He is not happy," Tucker said, stating the obvious.

"He's not gonna be the only one," Sam said while pulling out the lockers door, showing a picture of an attractive male singer on the inside. "This was Star's locker."

* * *

Back in New York, Van Roekel was relaxing in the teleportation room, awaiting Paulina's return. One of the pods shone brightly before Van Roekel, meaning only one thing. Paulina did come back, but burst out of the pod running and crying. She was out of the teleportation room before he knew it. Curious as opposed to worried, Van Roekel followed.

Outside the room, Van Roekel found the device Paulina used to get back to the lab on the floor. No doubt she threw it off as she was running away. Van Roekel stored it in his pocket for a later use.

He found Paulina in her room, just where he thought she'd be, sobbing onto her pillow. Van Roekel ought to feel bad for Paulina, but remembering his bargain with Technus, walked over to Paulina to comfort her and asked in a caring tone, "Downpour, what happened back there?"

Paulina took her head out of her pillow and told Van Roekel, "I saw the ghost boy, and I showed him my powers, and... and..." She bawled once more and cried, "He doesn't like me anymore!" She retreated back to her pillow to continue crying.

"That's to bad," Van Roekel said, pretending to care. "Doesn't that just want to make you up and destroy him?" Van Roekel thought this was all to easy. Then he got the answer.

"I... I can't!" Paulina cried. "I still love him! How can I-" The thought of even mentioning Danny Phantom's destruction was to much for Paulina, causing her to shove her head back into her pillow and wail even harder.

It was at this point Van Roekel didn't know what to do with this girl. He just wanted to tell Technus the the deal was off since the subject was being so difficult. Before he could step out, an idea finally clicked into his head. "Say, Downpour," he soothingly, "how would you like the hurt that Danny Phantom put upon you go away?"

Paulina lifted her head back out of her pillow and sniffed, "Can you really do that?"

"Quite easily..."

* * *

I feel kinda bad for making Tucker seem like a jerk. Anyway, post your reviews now. And don't forget to vote for Sanjaya. ...Seriously, he's the only one left worth voting for. 


	10. Out of Mind

Wow, I'm lazy. Here's your bloomin' chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics.

* * *

Drown Your Sorrows

* * *

Chapter 10: Out of Mind

* * *

"So, how did it go?" Technus asked Van Roekel, who had just left Paulina's room.

"It's simply a case of puppy love," Van Roekel explained. "She's not going to destroy Danny Phantom, so I've decided upon a new tactic. If she can bring him to us, he'll most likely be easier to take down."

"Problem:" Technus pointed out, "you can't just go in there and ask her to bring the ghost child to his doom."

"You can leave that to me," Van Roekel said. "Come." Van Roekel led Technus down the hallway. "I would first like to show you the item that will cause Phantom's destruction."

After two turns, Van Roekel and Technus came to a steel door with a keypad on the side. Van Roekel punched some keys in and held his face up close to it for a retinal scan. After some beeps of confirmation, the door opened, the eerie sound of air escaping welcoming the two.

"Behold the demise of Danny Phantom!" Van Roekel said, proudly displaying what was in front of him and Technus. On top of a stand stood a large, green, robotic battlesuit with energy cannons mounted on the arms, a jetpack, and a capsule on the top for the wearer to see out of. "This is the Minuteman Suit. It's my fallback in case project Paragon is a failure."

"It's a good concept," Technus said, simply observing while rubbing his chin. He didn't seem the least bit impressed. "Can I see how it works?"

"That is the problem," Van Roekel sighed, rather unhappy. "I don't have a powerful enough energy source to get the machine moving. Even the energy used in this entire base cold only get this machine to run only briefly. This is where you come in, Technus."

"Say no more," Technus grinned, "I already know what you're gonna ask." With that, Technus leaped into the air, diving into the Minuteman suit.

Suddenly, the machine roared to life. It thrusted its arms into the air and then took two steps forward. A green mist circled arounf inside the capsule on top, forming into the shape of Technus' head, which snapped into solid.

"That child is gonna be dead meat when he faces us!" Technus remarked, pounding his robotic fists together.

"This is PERFECT!" Van Roekel shouted, revelling in the success.

"Now I'm curious, Doctor," Technus had to know, "just _how_ are you going to have that girl bring the ghost boy to this?"

"As I said, my ally," Van Roekel said while leaving the room, "leave that to me."

As soon as Van Roekel was well away from the room, Technus rubbed his metalic palms together menacingly, saying to himself, "Oooh, this couldn't get any more perfect!"

* * *

"Why did I ever fall in love with him?" Paulina sobbed, huddled up in her bed and holding her pillow. She never handled rejection well, as she always did the rejecting. Now, she was unsure of what to do about Danny Phantom. Never see him and be sad, destroy him and probably be worse, try to get back with him and probably get blasted at...

"Downpour, come to my laboratory," Van Roekel said through the loudspeaker.

"Why?" Paulina said, still upset.

"My dear child," Van Roekel said in a soothing tone, "don't you want all that pain that that mean old ghost boy put upon you to float away?"

"I-" Paulina sniffed, "I guess."

"Then come to my lab," Van Roekel said.

Paulina did as Van Roekel asked, willing to do anything to forget about ever loving Danny Phantom.

As she was walking down the halls to Van Roekel's laboratory, she couldn't help but wonder how any of this could've happened. Her crush for the ghost, that is. It all started when he saved her from two occasions, neither of which she can clearly remember. It had always seemed he had a thing for her, to which she made it painfully obvious that she had the same thing, but that moment steadily waned up to the point when she saw the ghost holding that gothic nobody. It made her wonder if the ghost boy ever actually loved her back.

Upon reaching the doors to Van Roekel's lab, which slid open before her, she was welcomed by the bald scientist with a surprising amount of entusiasm.

"Downpour, darling! Please, have a seat," Van Roekel greeted, patting the table in front of him.

"You know," Paulina said, "you can call me 'Paulina.'"

"Yes, of course, Paulina," Van Roekel said, somewhat dismissivly. "Now if you would."

Paulina nodded and sat herself on Van Roekel's table. The doctor turned around to his counter. "What are you gonna do to me?" Paulina asked Van Roekel, neither looking at eachother.

"Just as you would like me to do," Van Roekel answered. "I'm going to help you forget all about that heartless Danny Phantom." While saying this, Van Roekel picked up a black item with green orbs popping out, the item no bigger than his hand. He held the item in a way so that the small needles on the back were facing up.

"I don't wanna forget about him," Paulina corrected. She began to sob and continued, "I want to forget I ever loved him."

"That can be arranged," Van Roekel said. He approached Paulina from behind, brushed her hair to reveal the back of her neck, and told her, "Now, you're going to feel a slight pinch." He slapped the device's needle end to the back of Paulina's neck.

Paulina felt the sharp pain on her neck. She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes tight at how the pain took her by surprise.

_When she opened her eyes, she found she was no longer in Van Roekel's lab, but a jungle of some kind. The jungle was moving forward, but Paulina herself was motionless. She just observed as she found herself apparently running through a jungle, ducking under vines and jumping over fallen trees._

_The end of the line put Paulina in horror. Her vision led her to a village in flames. She could feel the terrifying heat of the fire as it consumed the shacks and huts in its path. The village showed no signs of life, which brought a great scare to her._

_Then suddenly, all went black. Total darkness, complete silence, until a voice compeled Paulina to obey._

_"Listen to Van Roekel."_

Van Roekel could see his Turlin Mind Device had come into affect. The device had a slight side affect of skin discoloration, which he could see as Paulina's skin and hair took different shades of blue. He also noticed her irises and pupils had disappeared, something that didn't happen with all his other experiments. He was sure this was minor.

"Would you state your name, please?" Van Roekel asked.

"My name is Downpour," Paulina answered, her voice altered, another side effect of the device.

"Very good," Van Roekel said, pleased with his success. "Now, Downpour, I want you bring the ghost known as Danny Phantom to this lair. Do you think you can do that?"

"I shall do as you tell me, Doctor Van Roekel," Paulina answered.

* * *

Well, everything in the title card is now answered. If you're wondering what was up with Paulina's vision, just rent the game. Review, now! 


	11. Shock of a Lifetime

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics.

* * *

Drown Your Sorrows

* * *

Chapter 11: Shock of a Lifetime

* * *

After the final school bell rang, Danny, Sam, and Tucker worked their way through the mass of students to get out. They couldn't be any happier to finally be out of there, as their school performances suffered, their minds plagued with the thoughts of just where Paulina could be after disappearing again and how she got those water powers. All this just to impress Danny?

While Danny was looking around for a safe place to change, Sam and Tucker simply followed him around, not saying anything. They weren't going to try to talk him out of it with the whole, "She could be anywhere," schtick. He was stubborn that way.

"So, what do we tell your parents?" Tucker asked as the three went under the bleachers.

"Library," Danny quickly answered, taking on his ghost form.

"How are we gonna contact you?" Sam asked, concerned.

"Don't," Danny quickly answered again. He was really determined to get Paulina back and question her for her actions.

"So you're willing to save Paulina from whatever disaster she might've gotten herself into even if it means blindly running right into a trap?" Tucker asked.

"Pretty much," Danny answered without second thought.

Danny walked past his friends out of the bleachers. Before he could take off to search the city, Sam grabbed him tightly from behind. One could define it as hugging. "Please be careful," Sam softly said to him.

Danny looked at her and with a gentle smile, said the two words that always seemed to work. "I will." Danny took off into the sky and vanished into the horizon.

As Sam watched on, Tucker walked up to her and asked, "Do you have any idea how cliché that was?"

* * *

Danny flew around the town looking for any trace of Paulina. While he didn't think Paulina's lashing at him would lead her to attack the town, he couldn't be too careless. He was releaved to find no such thing, as he found what he was sure was Paulina on the roof of a rather tall building, securely standing on its edge. What was odd was she seemed to be staring at him, almost as she had been awaiting him. Danny touched down on the roof, glad to see the person on the roof was Paulina, but was disturbed to see her look different than the last time they encountered just a few hours ago.

"Paulina, what did that Van-something guy do to you now?" Danny said, a bit angry, yet controled compared to his last outburst with her. She could easily attack him again or worse, choose to fall off the structure. Instead Paulina did nothing. She simply smiled, almost maliciously, and waved her finger at him, inticing him to come forward.

Danny slowly walked his way towards Paulina, telling her, "Look, I don't wanna fight you."

Paulina simply chuckled and said, "You won't have to." Before Danny could process that Paulina's voice sounded much different than it ought've, she fell back and disappeared.

Danny acted fast and leaped over the side of the building after her. He dived down at Paulina, ignoring the droplets of water from her hair smacking his face.

As Danny came in for the catch, Paulina reached to her ear. As soon as Danny had her in her hands, Paulina activated the teleportation device and in a bright flash of light, the two were gone.

* * *

Before he knew it, Danny found himself in a whole new area. At first he was free-falling to save Paulina from a deadly fall, now he was in some sort of glass pod in some sort of laboratory. His attention was distracted from Paulina, who melted to a puddle to slip away from him. When Danny realized Paulina escaped him again, she had already slipped under a door.

"Ugh, everytime!" Danny complained. "They get away right when I think I have 'em!" Before Danny could go after her, the glass around him shattered completely, exploding outwards as it caught him off guard. After he recovered , he asked himself, "Okay, what was that?" Before Danny could eye around, he was struck by an intense jolt of electricity, bringing him to his hands and knees.

"That'd be me." Danny looked around to see where and who the voice came from. Standing behind him was physically built older man with a shaved head. He was clad in blue jeans, goggles, boots, and no shirt. The man's body and head was cover in bolts and sockets with sparks jumping out from them. "Name's Johnny Ohm," the man introduced himself, speaking with a southern accent, "and Van Roekel thought he'd let me rough ya up a little."

Danny slowly got up from his knees and told the man, "I don't have time for you."

Johnny took a stance to which streams electricity flew from his fingertips and said, "Allow me to make some!" He fired out the electricity, to which Danny quickly took flight to avoid.

Danny fired ghost rays at Johnny, who rolled away from the blasts, while Johnny threw his electricity in the air at Danny, who weaved as best he could to avoid the streams. The two didn't care what lab equitment they happened to hit, as long as they accomplished taking out the other. "You're not making this any fun for me, boy!" Johnny made an unexpected move and lept into the air up to Danny's height, being held up by the strong streams of electricity. Danny was too surprised to react in time and Johnny grabbed the ghost boy's arms and delivered a massive charge into Danny's body. Danny screamed in agony as the electricity was pumped into his system.

"It's mind over matter, son," Johnny said as he was frying Danny. "I don't mind killin' ya, so you won't matter to Van Roekel!"

As Danny was on the receiving end of a Texas-style execution, he came up with a last resort idea. With great difficulty, Danny struggled to raise his arm up, finally getting a hold of Johnny's shoulder. The electricity going into Danny's body was now also going into Johnny's, and since Johnny was already full of electricity to begin with, it caused an explosive overload which threw the two competiters to opposing ends of the room.

The two slammed into opposing walls, falling back to the floor. Danny was the first to get up, but Johnny didn't move at all. Danny, not even thinking about his own safety, flew over to inspect Johnny. He didn't move, but he appeared to be breathing. Danny figured the overload must've knocked him unconscious. Not having time for witty banter (since he couldn't think of a good electricity pun), Danny stepped out of the lab in search of any sign of Paulina.

* * *

Oooh, this is getting exciting, innit? Paulina's fate will be decided in the next chapter. You know you're curious. Now review! 


	12. The Minuteman

Well, I finally saw the rest of Season 3 (thank you, LiveVideo), so I feel I can finally associate this as something that takes place between "Urban Jungle" (the episode from which I started writing) and "Phantom Planet" since Paulina's involvement was so gosh darn minimal. However, all my stories onward aren't gonna take place after "Phantom Planet" simply because I didn't like the way it all ended. I'll explain why after this chapter. Now, keep in mind, whoever hasn't seen or heard anything, there will be spoilers after this chapter. When you see a large gap after the last paragraph, there be spoilers ahead.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics.

* * *

Drown Your Sorrows

* * *

Chapter 12: The Minuteman

* * *

Danny looked everywhere for Paulina. Every room he went into didn't show any sign of her. What was simply a few minutes seemed like hours in desperation, and Danny seriously began to regret not asking for contact. 

He phased into another room and searched around it, calling out for Paulina and looking for any sign that she was or has been in the large, unusually empty room. "Paulina?" Danny called out. "Paulina, are you in here?" There wasn't hide, hair, or puddle of the girl. He went to phase out, but instead bumped into the door. Bewildered, he simply tried phasing one hand through the door, but to no avail, as he was just pressing against it. He grounded himself, not noticing the floor was several inches lower than the door. "How is this even possible?" Danny asked himself.

"I created this room specifically for you," a voice from behind Danny called out. Danny spun around to see a bald man in a brown suit, simply standing with his hands behind his back. "Ghosts phase in, but they don't phase out."

The man gave a smug look at Danny, who concluded, "You. You're that Van Roekel guy, aren't you?"

"Doctor Niles Van Roekel, to be precise," the man answered. "And you are Danny Phantom, desperately seeking out your dear Paulina."

"Tell me what you did to her!!!" Danny demanded, his teeth gritted.

"Oh, yes, her abilities," Van Roekel playfully recalled. "I simply altered her genetics and taught her how to manipulate her body to do what it does, like melt into a puddle and such. I'm very impressed with the results"

"Paulina is _not_ a science project!" Danny shouted, having reached a new level of anger.

"I understand your concern for your friend," Van Roekel said. "But if you look at it one way, this wouldn't have happened to her if you hadn't rejected her."

Danny paused. Recalling his memory, Danny came back with, "I never rejected her! We were never a couple!"

"Please," Van Roekel scoffed. "You chose that 'goth loser' over her..."

"I can explain that," Danny interrupted.

"You never gave her the attention you _knew_ she desired," Van Roekel continued, "you practically attacked her."

"I wasn't trying to-"

"Face it, child, you're just as responsible for what's happened to the girl as I am!"

"SHUT UP!!!" Danny shouted, running at Van Roekel with a clenched fist. He wasn't good enough for a ghost ray. A square punch in the jaw was more deserving to a man this twisted. Van Roekel simply continued to stand where he was, patiently awaiting a good pummeling.

As Danny came up to the mad man, he gave Van Roekel's cheek a wallop with all his might in blind fury. He probably wished he threw the punch in regular fury, since it didn't feel like he hit anything. He tried hitting him again, his eyes square at Van Roekel's face. He threw the punch, but his fist went straight through Van Roekel's face. Van Roekel simply chuckled at the seemingly pitiful attempt. Danny suspected foul play and pushed his hands through the doctor, discovering the person he was trying to lay the smackdown on was simply a hologram.

"Did you really think it would be _that_ easy?" the hologram said before flickering and disappearing.

Danny suddenly heard a roaring sound from above, causing him to bring his attention to the green robot from which the sound came. Using its jet pack, the machine descended to the ground safely. Danny wasn't too surprised to see Van Roekel's head in the glass dome on top of the machine, and took a fighting stance as soon as the mad scientist did. "This is where the fun _really_ begins!" Van Roekel declared.

"Just so you know," Danny said to Van Roekel, his hands glowing, "I don't play easy!" He then fired energy at Van Roekel, who simply put up a force field. Danny never expected it to be that easy, but was still slightly stunned at what Van Roekel's machine could do.

"An energy blast?" Van Roekel tauntingly asked. "How predictable. Perhaps you'd like to see mine." Van Roekel's machine thrusted its hand forward and fired a shot of his own at Danny. The projectile moved so fast, Danny couldn't react in time to put up a force field of his own, taking the full front of the blast. The shot was powerful enough to send him flying into the wall of the far side of the room with sickening impact.

Van Roekel used his machine's jet pack to dash to Danny before he could recover, which he succeeded. Grabbing and holding Danny by the throat, Van Roekel said to him, "Let's see if ghosts can really get through this wall." He brought Danny back and slammed him into the wall, repeating the process several times over. When Van Roekel believed Danny was broken enough, he decided to toy with him again, saying, "And here I thought this would be difficult." Before he could bring Danny back for another slam, the ghost boy intangably slipped out of the robot's fingers. Van Roekel didn't understand what had just happened until he felt an explosion from the back of his machine. He spun around to see Danny Phantom, whose hands were smoking after blasting Van Roekel's jet pack off.

"Not so easy now, is it, Doc?" Danny said with a smirk. That smirk quickly disappeared as Van Roekel fired another blast at him. Danny was on the floor as Van Roekel was walking toward a pipe structure on a wall.

"Since you decided to give me a handicap," Van Roekel said, grabbing onto the pipes, "I thought it'd only be polite to return the favor!" Van Roekel tore the pipes off the wall. Water began pouring out like mad as it slowly began to flood the room. As Danny got back to his feet, he took note of the flooding, and took greater note of the lump rising beside Van Roekel. "I'm sure you're quite familiar with my latest experiment, Downpour, aren't you, Danny?" Paulina fully formed beside Van Roekel, her skin still blue as Danny last remembered.

"What did you do to her?!" Danny said, still wondering about the whole "blue skin" thing.

"I'd tell you," Van Roekel answered, "but I'd just be delaying the inevitable. Downpour, ATTACK!!!"

Paulina disappeared under the now ankle-deep water while Van Roekel closed in on Danny. Although he had projectile attacks, Van Roekel tried to throw some punchs, all of which Danny dodged away from. Danny decided to get out of Van Roekel's way by flying up, but his was being held back by his arms. Danny looked down to see watery tentacles emerging from the water, followed by Paulina's form with a dastardly smile. She pulled him down into the water and tried maliciously to force his head in, sporting a grin of complete madness. Danny struggled but manged to flip her of with his legs, sending Paulina soaring over Van Roekel's head. She plashed into the water face-first only to reform to a base stance at the blink of an eye. Danny kept his eyes on her, anticipating her next move until Van Roekel blasted him again in the chest. Danny was sent back flying again. As soon as his momentum stopped, he got on his knee and grasped his chest.

"It's foolish, child!" Van Roekel gloated. "You cannot withstand the power of my battlesuit!"

Upon hearing this, something clicked inside Danny's head. Danny got back up and flew straight towards Van Roekel. Van Roekel simply fired more shots at him. Danny anticipated the blasts' incredible speeds and dodge each of them. Very shortly afterwards, Paulina moved herself between the two and charged at Danny, gathering more water around herself and becoming a tidal wave. Danny simply went intangable, phasing past Paulina's attack. Danny remained in his phase shift as he tackled Van Roekel's supersuit, going through the Minuteman and bringing Van Roekel out with him.

As they hit the flooded floor, Danny pulled Van Roekel up by his tie with his hand glowing, threatening, "I may not be able to take your battlesuit, but I can definately take you!" Danny was ready to blast Van Roekel's head off without second thought until he was suddenly shot in the back. Pushed forward by the emense force of another shot, Danny turned around to see that the Minuteman battlesuit did indeed fire at him, but no one appeared to be at the helm. A swirling green mist inside the dome acomponied by an annoying cackle began to prove otherwise.

"Foolish child!" Technus called, revealing himself. "Did you really think any of this would even be probable without one of your marvelous nemeses to pull the strings?"

"You changed Paulina?" Danny angrily grunted.

"Well, it was mostly Van Roekel's idea," Technus admitted, "but it matters not, for I, Technus, shall destroy you and use the battlesuit to conquer the world!"

"You'll WHAT?!?" Van Roekel screamed upon hearing Technus' exclamation. Technus' face went blank after hearing Van Roekel shout.

"Still the same old Technus," Danny chuckled.

"You won't be stealing my creation so easily!" Van Roekel said in pure anger. "Downpour, attack Technus!"

Danny, put back on how low Van Roekel could go, flew to Van Roekel and grabbed him by his collar saying, "You are _not_ putting Paulina's life in any more danger!"

"So long as she is under my control," Van Roekel defended, showing no fear, "she is in good hands."

"Well put her out of your control or you're in for a world of hurt!" Danny threatened.

As Danny and Van Roekel continued arguing, Technus intervened saying, "Pardon me for interupting, but does anyone see what's wrong with this picture?"

Danny didn't quite understand what Technus was talking about until Van Roekel called out, "Downpour!" Danny spotted her to find she hadn't moved since Van Roekel had given her order to attack Technus. Van Roekel continued, "Something must've gone haywire with the mind device. Perhaps it happened in the transportation pod or in all this water or-"

"OR perhaps I tampered around with the device so it could be programed into _my_ cerebral network instead of yours?" Technus rudely interupted. "Did you consider _that_, braniac? What do you think I do when I'm not around? Play Solitaire?"

"How do I know you're not making this up?" Danny asked, releasing his hold on Van Roekel.

"Downpour, if you could attack the good doctor," Technus commanded. With that, Paulina fired a powerful blast of water at Van Roekel, sending him flying some ten feet. Technus once again gloated, "Isn't that just awesome? I made her appear to take your orders so you wouldn't notice! Who's the bigger man now?!?"

"There's no way you're getting away with this, Technus!" Danny shouted.

"Oh, I already have," Technus responded. He then commanded, "Downpour, finish the ghost boy once and for all!"

At the command, Paulina turned to Danny, a malicious grin on her face. She charged at Danny to tackle him, but Danny weaved out of her way to get at Technus. Danny almost got to him to give him a much deserved charged-up punch, but was held back by his ankle. He looked back to see Paulina had him tied up with her liquified arm extended as a lasso. She gave a mighty tug, sending Danny flying straight into her fist.

Amidst the chaos, Van Roekel hid in the background for one more plan against Technus. Speaking into his communicator watch, he whispered, "Johnny, are you there? ...I need you to come to the training facility, but don't enter the room. ...That would be risking your life. Now get over here!"

Paulina, on Danny's back at this time, was trying to drown him again by encasing his head in a sphere of water created from her arms. Danny thrashed the best he could, but couldn't get her off. Finally, he he used his freeze ability to make the sphere encasing his head ice. He then threw Paulina off of him, his head intangable so he can get out of the orb of ice. Suddenly, from behind, Technus blasted him in the back, forcing him face-first into the water again. Danny could again feel his body being held down by liquid ropes, courtesy of Paulina.

"Finally, I have defeated you, Danny Phantom!" Technus gloated. "Now to make my grand escape and take over this world with a suit not even of my own creation!" Technus rose up to the ceiling of the room. The jetpack may have been destroyed, but Technus still had his powers of levitation. He rose upward to the top of the room in his phase shift... and didn't get any further than that. Somewhat shocked from what hapened, he tried again, failing once more. Frustrated, he pounded the room's ceiling, shouting, "Why can't I get out of this stupid room?!"

"HA!" Van Roekel called out, getting Technus's attention. "It seemes you weren't listening when I specifically said that ghosts such as yourself cannot phase out of this room. Remind me who the genius is again!"

Technus growled angrily as he's come so close yet so far once more. "THAT'S IT!" he shouted. "Seeing how the girl has the ghost boy, I suppose I'll have to take you out!"

As Technus charged up to fire a shot at Van Roekel, Danny froze and shattered the tangles of water tethering him and flew up to attack Technus. Van Roekel might've been a slimeball for altering Paulina in such a way, but Danny decided to overlook it since he found out Technus had been using him.

Before any action could actually take place, the room's door opened. On the other side was Johnny Ohm. No one noticed him until he called out, "Woo, you weren't kiddin', Doc. I can't step in here!" He had almost stepped into the flooded room.

"Fire at the machine!" Van Roekel commanded.

"One fireworks show comin' up!" Johnny said, firing his electricity at Technus in the Minuteman.

Technus was shrieking in the machine, and he knew the only way to stop the pain was to abandon it. He did so and the machine dropped like a stone into the water.

"Well, that plan didn't work as well as I thought it did," Technus said, "but you've foolishly left the door open for me to make my escape! Now I, Technus, must bid you a fond farewell! See you in Tokyo!" Technus went for the open door, not caring what Johnny Ohm would do when he got there. As soon as he got to the opening, he was being pulled back. He tried as hard as he could, but couldn't move forward. He was now holding onto the doorframe to keep going, turning his head around to see what was going on. Danny was trapping him into the Fenton Thermos. "It can't end like this!" He grabbed onto a bewildered Johnny Ohm, taking the full front of his constant discharge, and pulled him into the flooded room, spreading the electricity to the entire room. Johnny was now unintentionally shocking himself, Van Roekel, and Paulina.

Danny couldn't believe what was happening in front of him, seeing Paulina shriek in agony. As Technus was going into the thermos, he taunted Danny one last time, saying, "It looks like I've won after all!" Technus was finally sealed inside the thermos, but Danny had a lot of lives to save, especially Paulina's. He was too distracted by all the shrieking to notice sparks popping from the back of Paulina's neck.

The only way to end all the mayhem was to get Johnny out of the water. He flew down, braced himself for the shock, and grabbed Johnny's flailing arm as soon as it came to reach. With Johnny in hand and countless volts running through his system, Danny rose up and tossed him out of the room, ending his torment, as well as Van Roekel's and Paulina's.

When it was all over, Danny looked around the room. The room was flooded, but everyone had their head above the water. Before Danny could take a sigh of relief, his attention was brought to that of Paulina being amung those unconscious and flew down to retrieve her. He reached to pick her up, but was greeted by one more shock by however much electricity was left in the water. Shaking his hand, he reached again to bring her up. He held her in his arms, still disheartened by seeing Paulina's altered appearance.

"Don't worry, Paulina," Danny soothingly said. "Mom and Dad'll figure something out." With that, he flew out of the room back to the teleportation pods used to bring Danny here to begin with.

* * *

A few moments passed, and Van Roekel had finally stirred back to consciousness. He was still slightly dazed as he walked to the room's exit to drain it. As he was moving, he stepped on something odd. Curious, he bent over to pick it up. When he saw what it was, he snapped back to reality to see it was the reamins a mind device. The one used on Paulina. 

He ran out the room and spoke into his communicator watch, shouting, "I need a full search of the laboratory and New York City! Downpour is missing and her mind device has been improperly removed!"

* * *

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Okay, I put this off for a long time, I know. Now, up top, I said I wasn't making this in canon to the end of the series with "Phantom Planet." I have my reasons. Could I handle Sam and Danny being together? Sure. Can I handle Tucker being mayor? Sure. Can I handle everyone knowing Danny's secret? Absolutely not. Where's the whole superhero thing if everyone knows who you are?! I don't know how guys like Reed Richards lives with that. Also, it affects everyones character _sooooo_ much. It's no fun now that it seems everything's cool with Danny and Dash. We got a hint of that in "Reality Trip," and that wasn't too cool. So, from this point on, think of all my pieces taking place after "D-Stablized." Thank you, and leave a review. 


	13. Missing Again

Yup, it's a little one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, or any characters associated with them. Danny Phantom is property to Nickelodeon, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is property to Electronic Arts and Marvel Comics.

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Drown Your Sorrows

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Chapter 13: Missing Again

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In a barren street in Amity Park, a bright flash light up the afternoon sky. Danny had transported himself and Paulina back to their hometown to get Paulina to the Fentons to see if they could figure anything out. After Danny touched down and looked around the area to see if anyone was at all there, he changed to his human persona and continued on foot.

He looked down at Paulina, still as blue and unconcious as he remembered. He still couldn't believe how any of this could've happened. At first, he was over her, nowshe's all he could think about.

Danny was too busy contemplating his thoughts to notice Paulina open her eyes. It wasn't until he felt his arms feel totally drenched that he noticed Paulina had dissolved in his hands. He looked around in a panic to see a puddle moving towards a sewer gutter.

"NO!" Danny called out as the puddle disappeared into the sewers. He knew Paulina wasn't herself, as she'd never be caught dead in a sewer. He looked through the gutters and couldn't find any trace of Paulina in the damp, murky surface of Amity Park's... yeah. Danny couldn't help or resist it. He let out a disheartened cry and slammed his fist on the street as he had lost Paulina once again.

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In the sewer system, as filthy, disgusting water was roaring down, something had leaped out and landed on the concrete aisle along the stream. It was Paulina, looking up blankly to the light that the gutter was giving off. She didn't even try remove the dirty plastic bag hanging over her shoulder. Paulina was no longer herself. All that remained was Downpour, remembering her specific order:

_Downpour, finish the ghost boy once and for all!_

"Once and for all," Downpour repeated as she walked down the aisle, lying in wait for her next opportunity to attack.

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Aaaaand scene. That's all folks. This isn't the last you've seen of Downpour. I've still got plenty of ideas for her.


End file.
